UC-NRLF 


Indiana 


the 


BY 


W/S.  BLATCHLEY 


THE  INDIANA  WEED  BOOK 


BY  W.  S.  BLATCHLEY 

i   | 

Author  of  "Gleanings  from  Nature,"    "A  Nature  Wooing,"  "Boulder  Reveries,1 
"Woodland  Idyls,"    "The  Coleoptera  of  Indiana,"   etc. 


;'Up  there  came  a  flower, 
The  people  said,   a  weed." 

— Tennyson. 


INDIANAPOLIS: 

THE  NATURE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
1912. 


l3\oC  \;v 
"If  I  knew 

Only  the  herbs  and  simples  of  the  wood, 
Rue,  cinquefoil,  gill,  vervain  and  agrimony, 
Bine-vetch  and  trillium,  hawkweed,  sassafras, 
Milkweeds  and  murky  brakes,  quaint  pipes  and  sundew. 
And  rare  and  virtuous  roots,  which  in  these  woods 
Draw  untold  juices  from  the  common  earth, 
Untold,  unknown,  and  I  could  surely  spell 
Their  fragrance,  and  their  chemistry  apply 
By  sweet  affinities  to  human  flesh. 
Driving  the  foe  and  stablishing  the  friend — 
O,  that  were  much,  and  I  could  be  a  part 
Of  the  round  day,  related  to  the  sun 
And  planted  world,  and  full  executor 
Of  their  imperfect  functions. 
But  these  young  scholars,  who  invade  our  hills, 
Bold  as  the  engineer  who  fells  the  wood, 
And  travelling  often  in  the  cut  he  makes, 
Love  not  the  flower  they  pluck,  and  know  it  not, 
And  all  their  botany  is  Latin  names." — Emerson. 


Copyright,  1912. 
BY  W.  S.  BLATCHLEY. 


"How  ineffably  vast  and  how  hopelessly  infinite  is  the  study  of  \\:\- 
ture!  If  a  mere  dilletante  observer  like  myself— a  saunterer  who  gathers 
posies  and  chronicles  butterflies  by  the  wayside  for  the  pure  love  of  them 
— were  to  tell  even  all  that  he  has  noticed  in  passing  of  the  manners  and 
habits  of  a  single  weed — of  its  friends  and  its  enemies,  its  bidden  gnests 
and  its  dreaded  foes,  its  attractions  and  its  defenses,  its  little  life  history 
and  the  wider  life  history  of  its  race — he  would  fill  a  whole  book  up  with 
what  he  knows  about  that  one  little  neglected  flower ;  and  yet  he  would 
have  found  out  after  all  but  a  small  fraction  of  all  that  could  be  known 
about  it,  if  all  were  ever  knowable." — (Inint  Mien. 


PREFACE. 


"Tou^h  thistles  choked  the  fields  and  killed  the  corn, 
And  an  unthrifty  crop  of  weeds  was  borne." — Drifdcn. 

Long  has  it  been  said  that  ';An  ill  weed  grows  apace,"  yet  few 
are  the  books  that  tell  us  how  to  check  that  growth.  The  wild 
plants  which  dwell  most  closely  with  us,  those  with  which  we  are 
most  familiar,  are  many  of  them  ;' weeds,"  yet  of  them  and  their 
history  we  know  but  little.  Whence  came  they?  How  did  they 
get  here?  What,  if  any,  are  their  uses?  What  is  their  place 
among  other  plants  in  the  great  scheme  of  Nature?  How  can  we 
best  control  or  get  rid  of  them?  Those  are  the  questions  which 
we  endeavor  to  answer  in  this  book  on  Indiana  weeds. 

By  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture  it  has  been  estimated 
that  to  crop  and  meadow  lands  weeds  cause  an  average  annual 
loss  of  one  dollar  per  acre.  As  at  least  two-thirds  of  the  area  of 
Indiana  is  comprised  of  such  lands  it  follows  that  the  annual  loss 
in  this  State  is  $15,509,330  from  weeds  alone.  This  great  loss 
falls  almost  wholly  upon  the  farmer,  and  it  is  for  him,  therefore, 
that  this  book  has  been  especially  written.  In  the  simplest  man- 
ner possible  we  have  endeavored  to  describe  the  worst  weeds  of 
the  State,  show  their  place  among  other  plants  and  give  the  most 
practicable  methods  for  their  control  or  eradication. 

While  the  average  farmer  spends  most  of  his  years  in  fighting 
weeds,  he  knows  too  little  about  them.  A  man  is  not  considered 
much  of  a  carpenter  unless  he  knows  the  different  kinds  of  lum- 
ber and  the  uses  to  which  ^acli  can  best  be  put ;  nor  can  he  be- 
come much  of  a  printer  unless  he  gets  acquainted  with  the  dif- 
ferent forms  of  type  and  learns  how  best  to  set  them  for  the  most 
effective  display.  "Why,  then,  should  not  the  farmer  strive  to  un- 
derstand the  true  character  of  each  of  those  plants  which  it  is  his 
especial  duty  to  either  cultivate  or  extiq^ate?  The  close  study  of 
soils,  fertilizers,  weeds,  live  stock  and  other  factors  of  the  farm 
is  rapidly  raising  the  science  of  husbandry  to  a  plane  where  it  is 
no  longer  regarded  as  irksome  drudgery,  but  as  one  of  the  highest 
callings  of  a  free  and  intellectual  people.  Just  as  the  old  Roman 

(3) 


INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


,t,  most  content  while  fighting  the  w^eeds 
in'his  c^Ubage"pfatch,*sd<?ill  other  gardeners  and  farmers  are  per- 
forming man's  noblest  duty,  when  they  are  endeavoring  to  make 
twro  blades  of  grass  grow  where  but  one  has  grown  before.  And 
especially  is  this  true  if  that  one  was  only  a  weed. 

Not  only  for  the  farmers  but  also  for  the  schools,  where  the 
future  farmers  will  be  educated,  has  the  book  been  prepared.  A 
farm-boy  and  a  teacher  has  the  writer  been,  and  knows  somewhat, 
therefore,  the  needs  of  both.  While  to  the  minds  of  most  people 
wreeds  and  poetry  may  seem  to  have  little  in  common,  the  average 
boy  or  girl  of  15  or  thereabouts  delights  in  an  apt  quotation,  a 
legend  or  a  bit  of  history  which  will  illuminate  the  subject  in 
hand.  A  little  poetry  and  folk-lore,  therefore,  has  been  added 
here  and  there  to  give  a  zest  to  the  work.  The  farmer,  if  he  be  a 
disciple  of  CUrad  grind  and  so  content  only  with  facts,  can  blow 
this  off  as  froth  and  drink  in  only  the  more  substantial  draught 
which  lies  below. 

In  this  connection  we  cannot  do  better  than  to  once  again  quote 
Grant  Allen,  who  says:  "Our  thoughts  about  nature  are  often 
too  largely  interwoven  with  hard  technicalities  concerning  rotate 
corollas  and  pedicellate  racemes;  and  I  for  my  part  am  not 
ashamed  to  confess  that  I  like  sometimes  to  see  the  dry  light  of 
science  diversified  with  some  will-o'-the-wisp  of  pure  poetical  imag- 
ination. After  all.  these  things  too  are  themselves  matters  for  the 
highest  science  ;  and  that  kind  of  scientific  man  who  cannot  recog- 
nize their  use  and  interest  is  himself  as  yet  but  a  one-sided  crea- 
ture, a  chemical  or  biological  Gradgrind,  still  spelling  away  at  the 
woak  and  beggarly  elements  of  knowledge,  instead  of  skimming 
the  great  book  of  nature  easily  through  with  a  free  glance  from 
end  to  end.  Surely  there  are  more  things  in  heaven  and  'earth 
than  are  dreamed  of  in  Gradgrind's  philosophy!" 

* 
*       * 

"Wayside  swigs  and  meadow  blossoms;  nothing  perfect,  nothing  rare; 
Every  poet's  ordered  garden  yields  a  hundred  flowers  more  fair; 
Master-singers  know  a  music  richer  far  beyond  compare. 

Yet  the  reaper  in  the  harvest,  'mid  the  burden  and  the  heat, 
Hums  a  half  remembered  ballad,  finds  the  easy  cadence  sweet  — 
Sees  the  very  blue  of  heaven  in  the  corn-bloom  nt  his  feet." 

—  Van  Di/kc. 
INDIANAPOLIS,  INDIANA.  Feb.  20,   1012. 


ON   WEEDS   IN   GENERAL. 


From  the  day  that  man  with  a  crooked  stick  first  tickled  the 
ground  about  the  roots  of  some  favorite  plant  which  he  desired  to 
grow  more  rapidly,  and  pulled  from  around  it  other  plants  that  it 
might  have  a  better  supply  of  air,  moisture  and  sunshine — from 
that  dny  wce.ch  have  existed  upon  the  face  of  earth.  Before  that 
day  each  and  every  plant  was  on  an  equality,  fighting  its  own 
battles  in  its  own  way,  spreading  far  and  wide  by  rootstocks  and 
seed  its  kind,  evolving  year  by  year  some  property,  some  character 
which  would  the  better  enable  it  to  succeed  in  the  great  struggle 
for  existence.  But  when  man  for  the  first  time  began  to  domesti- 
cate certain  plants — to  help  them  fight  the  battle  of  life — to  set 
off  certain  areas  in  which  he  wished  them  alone  to  grow — all 
plants  which  were  in  any  way  harmful  to  his  plans  he  called 
"weeds."  From  that  day  to  this  he  has  had  to  fight  them,  and 
from  as  far  back  as  the  time  of  Juno — according  to  old  Homer — 
whenever  he  begins  to  get  the  better  of  them 

"Old  Earth  perceives  and  from  her  bosom  pours 
Unbidden  herbs  and  voluntary  flowers." 

Many  of  the  plants  which  that  first  gardener  called  weeds  pos- 
sessed hidden  virtues,  properties  of  excellence,  which  other  men, 
far  down  the  vista  of  the  years,  discovered.  These  plants  they 
began  to  cultivate,  to  utilize,  and  so  removed  them  from  the  cate- 
gory of  weeds.  Meanwhile  some  of  the  first  of  cultivated  plants, 
when  carried  to  other  parts  of  the  earth,  have  either  lost  those 
properties  which  rendered  them  useful  to  man  or  have,  through 
a  change  of  soil  and  other  environment,  become  so  successful,  so 
aggressive,  that  they  spread  and  intrude  upon  the  areas  set  aside 
for  other  plants  favored  by  man,  and  have  become  the  most  com- 
mon of  weeds.  So  the  list  of  weeds  is  ever  changing,  some  being 
added  here,  others  subtracted  there,  until  it  is  different  in  every 
country,  state  or  nation  on  earth  and  is  nowhere  settled  or  stable. 


(5) 


6  THE  INDIANA  WEED  BOOK. 

DEFINITION  OP  A  WEED. 

As  a  result  of  the  conditions  stated  there  are  many  definitions 
of  a  weed,  among  them  being: 

(«)     "A  plant  out  of  place  or  growing  where  it  is  not  wanted." 

(1))     "A  plant  whose  virtues  have  not  yet  been  discovered." — Emerson. 

(c)  "An  herb  which  is  useless  or  troublesome  and  without  special 
beauty. 

(rf)     "Tobacco." 

(<")  ,   "A  plant  which  contests  with  man  for  the  possession  of  the  soil.'' 

(f)  "A  useless  plant  growing  wild,  of  sufficient  size  to  be  easily  no- 
ticeable and  of  sufficient  abundance  to  be  injurious  to  the  farmer." 

((/)  "Any  injurious,  troublesome  or  unsightly  plant  that  is  at  the 
same  time  useless  or  comparatively  so." 

The  reader,  be  he  student,  teacher,  poet  or  farmer,  can  choose 
from  the  above  definitions  or  others  the  one  which  suits  best  his  own 
taste,  fancy,  belief  or  experience.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  whether 
a  plant  is  a  weed  or  no  depends  wholly  upon  the  point  of  view. 
Many  a  plant,  which  is  among  the  worst  of  weeds  to  a  farmer,  is 
to  the  poet  or  naturalist  a  flower  of  surpassing  beauty.  The  list 
of  Indiana  weeds  which  follows  is  based  upon  the  standpoint  of  the 
farmer,  and  comprises  the  227  of  the  2,000  and  more  plants  grow- 
ing wi]d  in  the  State*  which  are  thought  to  be  the  most  harmful 
to  his  interests.  During  its  compilation  definitions  (/)  and  (</), 
above  given,  have  been  the  ones  considered. 

Those  plants  which  have  become  the  most  common  or  "worst 
weeds"  are  those  which  have  been  most  successful  in  evolving 
methods  or  properties  of  defending  themselves  against  being  de- 
stroyed by  nlant-eating  animals;  in  devising  means  for  ready  and 
rapid  cross-fertilization,  either  by  wind  or  insects,  and  in  provid- 
ing for  themselves  effective  means  of  distributing  tl-eir  see^s  or 
other  ways  of  propagation  wh-?n  the  seeds  are  difficult  to  ripen. 
Under  the  head  of  the  Nettle  Family,  in  the  list  which  follows, 
are  mentioned  some  of  the  ways  by  which  plants  defend  them- 
selves from  browsing  animals.  The  ox-eye  daisy  and  related  weeds 
of  the  Compositae  Family  have  been  most  successful  in  devising 
methods  for  fertilization  of  a  large  number  of  flowers  in  a  short 
time  by  insects,  while  the  grasses  and  plantains  are  adepts  in  pro- 
ducing means  for  wind  fertilization. 

*0f£ these,  1 ,783  are"  listed  in  Sianley  Coulter's  "Cafalogue  of  the  Flowering  Plants  and  Ferns  and  Their 
Allies  Indigenous  to  Indiana,"  published  in  1899.  In  various  papers  published  ?ince  that  date  in  the  Proceedings 
of  the  Indiana  Academy  of  Science,  177  additional  species  have  been  recorded, 


METHODS  OF  WEF.D  SEED  MIGRATION.  7 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  WEED  SEEDS. 

Our  worst  weeds  are  in  general  those  which  have  devised  the 
most  successful  ways  of  distributing;  their  seeds  to  fields  and  pas- 
tures new,  where  the  competition  will  not  he  so  great  as  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  the  parent  plant.  Many  are  the  methods 
used  and  a  number  of  agents  or  factors  enter  into  this  seed  dis- 
semination, chief  among  which  are  wind,  water,  birds,  animals  and 
man,  his  machinery  and  methods  of  commerce.  These  different 
methods  of  seed  distribution  should  be  of  especial  interest  to  the 
farmer,  for  a  knowledge  of  them  will  often  enable  him  to  trace  the 
source  of  some  noxious  migratory  weed  which  has  appeared  upon 
his  land,  and  will  cause  him  to  be  on  the  lookout  for  it  from  the 
same  or  similar  origin.  Moreover,  some  of  the  factors  of  seed  dis- 
tribution are  partly  or  wholly  under  his  control,  while  others,  such 
as  water  and  wind,  are  wholly  beyond  his  power  to  lessen. 

SEEDS  CARRIED  BY  WIND. — The  wind  is  one  of  the  most  potent 
factors  in  the  wide  distribution  of  weed  seeds.  Many  weeds,  as 
those  of  thistle,  dandelion,  fire  weed,  prickly  lettuce,  etc.,  have  each 
seed  enclosed  in  a  little  case  to  the  top  of  which  is  joined  a  tuft  of 
downy  hairs,  thus  enabling  them  to  be  lifted  and  carried  several 
miles  by  the  wind;  in  the  case  of  the  milkweeds  the  tuft  is  attached 
to  the  seed  itself.  Some  of  the  grasses  have  long  hairs  upon  the 
chaff  surrounding  the  grain,  which  serves  the  same  purpose,  while 
some  of  the  docks,  the  actinomeris  and  others  have  the  seeds  or 
achenes  winged  or  expanded  on  the  sides  so  that  they  are  easily 
lifted  and  borne  onward  by  a  passing  breeze.  (Fig.  1,  a  and  /.) 

The  seeds  of  many  weeds  are  blown  long  distances  over  the 
surface  of  snow,  ice  or  frozen  ground.  The  ragweeds,  velvet-leaf, 
docks,  pigweeds,  chickweed  and  different  weeds  of  the  grass  family 
are  examples  of  those  whose  seeds  are  so  distributed. 

Some  plants  after  ripening  their  seeds  are  broken  off  near  the 
ground  and  rolled  over  and  over  by  the  wind,  the  seeds  dropping 
off  at  intervals  along  the  way.  These  "tumble-weeds"  as  they  are 
called,  include  our  Indiana  weeds  known  as  old-witch  grass,  Rus- 
sian thistle,  two  species  of  amaranth  and  the  buffalo  bur,  besides 
a  number  of  others. 

SEEDS  CARRIED  BY  WATER. — Water  is  an  important  agent  in  the 
dispersion  of  the  seeds  of  many  weeds,  especially  those  which  grow 
in  flood  plains  or  along  the  banks  of  streams.  The  great  ragweed, 
smartweeds,  bindweeds  and  others  depend  largely  upon  the  an- 
nual overflows  for  the  wide  spreading  of  their  seeds.  The  seeds 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 

of  many  weeds  growing  on  uplands  are  continually  being  washed 
down  the  slopes  into  lowland  soils  where  many  of  them  germinate 
and  flourish.  So  long  as  careless  farmers  on  the  higher  grounds 
allow  the  seeds  of  noxious  weeds  to  ripen,  just  so  long  will  the 
farmers  on  the  lowlands  have  weed  seeds  scattered  over  their  fields 
by  countless  thousands.  Many  weeds  bearing  ripened  seeds  and 
growing  along  the  banks  of  streams  are  washed  bodily  into  the  cur- 
rent when  the  banks  cave  off,  and  are  carried  for  miles  down 
stream,  finally  lodging  in  bed  of  silt  or  bottom  field,  in  soil  well 
suited  to  the  future  plant. 

BIRDS  AS  SEED  CARRIERS. — The  berries  or  seed  pods  of  certain 
weeds  are  eaten  by  birds  for  the  nutriment  found  in  the  outer  pulp 
and  the  hard  seeds  pass  undigested.  The  nightshades,  poison  ivy, 
pokeweed,  blackberry  and  pepper-grass  are  some  weeds  whose 
seeds  are  thus  distributed.  The  seeds  of  thistles,  ragweeds,  dande- 
lions, knot-grass  and  other  weeds  are  often  eaten  in  such  quantities 
by  sparrows  and  other  birds  that  many  of  them  are  doubtless  un- 
digested and  are  distributed  in  new  localities. 

Water  birds  often  carry  seeds  long  distances  in  mud  which 
has  become  encased  or  hardened  on  their  feet.  Darwin,  in  his 
' '  Origin  of  Species, ' '  states  that  he  took  in  February,  3  tablespoon- 
fuls  of  mud  from  3  different  points  beneath  water  on  the  edge  of 
a  little  pond.  This  mud,  when  dried,  weighed  only  6J  ounces  and 
in  the  viscid  state  was  all  contained  in  a  breakfast  cup.  He  kept 
it  in  his  study  for  six  months,  pulling  up  and  counting  each  plant 
as  it  grew ;  the  plants  were  of  many  kinds  and  were  altogether  537 
in  number.  It  is  very  easy,  therefore,  for  birds  to  distribute  many 
seeds  in  this  way. 

A  bird  also  sometimes  catches  up  a  sprig  of  a  plant  and  carries 
it  where  the  seeds  can  be  eaten  without  molestation,  the  act  re- 
sulting in  a  wide  scattering  of  the  seed. 

ANIMALS  AS  SEED  CARRIERS. — Many  weeds  have  developed  spines 
or  small  hooks  on  their  seeds  or  seed  vessels  by  which  they  become 
attached  to  the  fur  of  every  passing  animal,  and  especially  to  the 
wool  of  sheep,  manes  of  horses  and  clothing  of  man,  and  are  then 
borne  far  and  Avide  before  being  dislodged.  Thus  we  have  the 
burs  of  burdock,  cocklebur  and  bur-grass;  the  hooked  achenes  of 
the  buttercups;  the  barbed  hairs  of  the  fruits  or  seed  vessels  of 
wild  carrots;  the  prickly  nutlets  of  hound's  tongue  and  beggars' 
lice;  the  bristly  pod-joints  of  the  seed-ticks  or  tick-trefoils  and 
the  barbed  achenes  of  the  bur-marigolds,  beggar-ticks  and  Spanish 
needles.  The  seeds  of  the  mustards,  when  moistened,  exude  a  mu- 


RAILWAYS    AS    CARRIERS    OF    WEED    SEEDS. 

cilage  which  causes  them  to  adhere  to  every  passing  object.  Live 
stock  taken  from  one  farm  or  one  locality  to  another  often  carry 
many  of  these  seeds  or  burs  in  wool,  manes  or  tails,  and  many  a 
clean  farm  has  from  this  cause  suddenly  produced  crops  of  weeds 
whose  origin  doubtless  puzzled  and  dismayed  the  owner.  The 
parts  of  seeds  or  fruits  which  have  been  evolved  as  clasping  organs 
are  thus  seen  to  be  varied  in  form  and  structure,  but  each  has 
enabled  the  plant  to  which  it  belongs  to  migrate  time  and  again 
to  a  new  home  where  it  could  the  better  fight  the  battle  of  life. 

MAN  AS  AN  AGENT  OF  SEED  DISTRIBUTION. — The  plants  which 
have  become  the  most  successful  weeds  of  the  farm  have  had  their 
seeds  spread  more  widely  through  the  agency  of  man  than  through 
all  other  methods  combined.  His  roads  and  trails  wind  evervwhere 


Fig.  1.  Ill  stratiag  methods  of  seed  distribution:  a,  seeds  (achenes)  of  dandelion  with  pappu?  attached, 
several  of  them  still  borne  on  the  receptacle:  b,  fruit  of  beggar-ticks  showing  the  barbed  awns;  c  and  d,  burs  or 
fru'ts  of  cocklebur  and  burdock,  showing  the  grappling  appendages;  e,  fruit  of  wild  carrot,  showing  the  clutching 
spines;  /,  winged  fruit  of  wafer-ash.  (After  Kerner  and  Beal.) 

through  plain  and  forest;  his  railway  lines  bind  every  State  to- 
gether and  connect  with  steamship  lines  from  across  the  seas,  and 
along  all  these  avenues  of  commerce  weed  seeds  are  constantly 
travelling,  sometimes  as  paid  passengers  in  company  with  grain 
and  other  farm  seeds,  but  more  often  as  hoboes  in  hay,  bedding, 
packing,  shipments  of  fruit,  etc. 

The  great  east  and  west  trunk  lines  of  railways  are  responsible 
for  the  wide  distribution  of  many  a  weed,  such  as  the  Russian 
thistle,  prickly  lettuce,  Canada,  thistle  and  Texas  nettle,  which 
first  appear  in  any  locality  along  a  railway.  The  seeds  are  carried 
either  in  the  coats  of  cattle  or  sheep,  in  the  hay  which  supports 
them  on  their  journey,  or  in  the  bedding  on  the  floor  of  the  car. 
Dropping  at  intervals  all  along  the  line  the  seeds  find  excellent 


10  THE    INDIANA    WEED   BOOK. 

beds  in  the  bared  soil  along  the  tracks  where  they  sprout  and  grow 
until  ready  to  take  another  step  in  advance.  The  botanist  has 
learned  their  ways  of  migration  and  knows  that  if  he  wishes  to 
find  new  and  interesting  species  his  best  pathway  will  be  alongside 
the  railways. 

Man^y  seeds  are  introduced  in  the  packing  about  crates  of  china 
or  glassware,  shipments  of  nursery  stock  and  in  baled  hay.  Many 
more  are  distributed  by  being  mixed  with  commercial  seeds,  such 
as  those  of  clover,  wheat,  flax  and  grasses. 

On  his  harrows,  plows  and  cultivators  the  farmer  often  carries 
pieces  of  rootstocks,  bulbs,  etc,  from  one  field  or  farm  to  another. 
Perennial  weeds  such  as  couch-grass,  trumpet-creeper,  bouncing 
bet,  bindweed  and  ox-eye  daisy  are  the  ones  most  generally  scat- 
tered in  this  manner.  Wagons,  self-binders  and  especially  thresh- 
ing machines  are  responsible  for  the  distribution  of  many  weed 
seeds  which  are  jostled  from  them  as  they  pass  along  the  roadways 
or  over  the  fields  from  farm  to  farm.  Many  a  well  managed  farm 
often  becomes  infested  with  noxious  weeds  in  this  way.  Barnyard 
manures,  and  especially  manures  hauled  from  cities  and  towns 
where  much  of  the  feed-stuffs  have  been  purchased  from  a  distance, 
are  also  active  agents  in  the  spread  of  weed  seeds. 

The  above  are  some  of  the  indirect  ways  in  which  man  has 
brought  about  the  wide  distribution  of  noxious  weeds.  He  is  also 
directly  responsible  for  the  spread  of  many  weeds  by  introducing 
them  into  his  gardens  or  fields,  cultivating  them  for  a  time  and 
then  allowing  them  to  escape.  Such  well  known  weeds  as  wild 
garlic,  purslane,  tansy,  bouncing  bet,  oxe-eye  daisy,  chicory,  wild 
carrot,  butter  and  eggs,  catnip  and  motherwort  have  been  widely 
spread  in  this  way.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  many  of  our  most  com- 
mon weeds  are  those  which  have  been  introduced  directly  or  in- 
directly by  man  into  some  locality,  have  there  been  allowed  to 
grow  for  a  few  years  in  his  cultivated  fields  or  under  his  care, 
and  have  thus  become  acclimated  and  better  adapted  for  a  wide 
and  successful  migration  throughout  the  land. 

Those  weeds  which  are  most  common  and  successful  in  culti- 
vated fields  are  in  general  those  which  by  reason  of  a  quick  growth 
are  enabled  to  produce  and  ripen  an  enormous  number  of  seeds. 
Careful  estimates  made  by  the  Towa  and  Kansas  Experimental 
Stations  show  that  the  number  of  seeds  produced  by  a  single  aver- 
age full  grown  specimen  of  15  of  our  most  common  weeds  is  as 
follows : 


WEED   ASSOCIATIONS   BASED   ON   ENVIRONMENT.  11 

Crab-grass S9,600  Velvet  Leaf  31,900 

Yellow  Foxtail   113,600  Purslane  Speedwell  186,300 

Pigweed 85,000  Dandelion    1,729 

Tumble-weed    14,000  Kngweed . 23,100 

Purslane  (5(.),()00  Oocklebur  9,700 

Pepi>er-grass 12,22.")  Beggar-ticks  10,500 

Charlock  9,1100  Ox-eye  Daisy 6,750 

Shepherd's  Purse 17,000 

WEED  COMMUNITIES  OR  ASSOCIATIONS. 

Many  weeds,  like  misery,  love  company.  Certain  species  when 
they  travel  go  together  and  settle  down  in  a  little  community  on 
a  tract  of  land  having  an  environment  especially  suited  to  their 
taste  and  manner  of  growth.  Thus  along  roadsides  and  cow-paths 
one  finds  the  knot-grass,  black  medic,  wire-grass,  dog-fennel,  rib- 
wort and  prickly  sida;  in  barnyards  the  jimson-weed,  mother- 
wort,  burdock,  catnip,  water-pepper  and  yellow  dock;  in  lawns  and 
country  yards  the  dandelion,  common  pkmtain,  shepherd's  purse 
and -round-leaved  mallow.  The  most  of  these  are  so-called  "social 
weeds,"  forming  company  not  only  for  themselves  but  for  man 
and  accompanying  him  everywhere  in  his  march  across  the  conti- 
nent. On  the  half -barren  slopes  of  old  fields  there  usually  occurs 
a  little  community  made  up  of  the  evening  primrose,  mullen,  field 
sorrel,  pennyroyal,  cinquefoil,  steelweed  and  ox-eye  daisy,  with 
usually  a  few  blackberry  briers  and  a  clump  of  fragrant  everlast- 
ing to  bear  them  company.  In  rich  soil  along  the  borders  of  up- 
land thickets  occurs  the  figwort,  ground  ivy,  blue  lettuce,  wood 
nettles  and  trefoils;  in  open  woodland  pastures,  the  common 
thistle,  iron-weed,  aetinomeris,  pokeweed,  hawkweeds  and  Indian 
tobacco;  on  river  banks,  especially  near  towns,  the  white  sweet- 
clover,  bouncing  bet,  teasel,  wormseed,  milkweed,  and  prickly  let- 
tuce; while  in  rich  alluvial  lowlands  grow  the  great  horse-weed, 
willow  aster,  cocklebur,  bindweed,  smartweed  and  wild  sweet  po- 
tato. Numerous  other  plant  associations  could  be  mentioned  but 
the  above  are  more  than  sufficient  to  show  that  weeds  are  gregarious 
and  that  those  which  have  similar  tastes  tend,  like  birds  of  a 
feather,  to  flock  together. 

T?IE  ORIGIN  OF  INDIANA  WEEDS. 

Having  noted  the  various  ways  in  which  weeds  are  distributed 
over  the  earth  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  that  in  Indiana  the  great 
majority  of  our  very  worst  weeds  are  aliens  from  a  foreign  shore. 
They  are  the  ones  which  have  succeeded  best  in  crowding  out  and 


12  THK    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 

displacing  our  wild  and  cultivated  native  plants  and  in  taking,  if 
unmolested,  complete  possession  of  the  soil.  Most  of  these  foreign 
weeds  possess  that  "ingrained  coarseness,  scrubbiness,  squalor  and 
sordidness,  that  stringiness  of  fibre,  hairiness  of  surface  or  prickly 
defensive  character"  which  marks  them  as  masters  of  the  plant 
world,  as  weeds  par  excellence. 

Of  the  150  species  of  plants  which  are  hereafter  listed  as  being 
most  harmful  to  the  farmers  of  the  State,  77  are  natives  of  Indiana, 
that  is,  indigenous  to  her  soil,  while  73  are  introduced  species.  Of 
the  latter  58  came  from  Europe,  2  from  Asia,  8  from  tropical 
America  and  5  from  the  plains  of  the  Western  States. 

These  150  weeds  are  grouped  in  3  classes.  Class  I.  comprises 
our  worst  weeds,  those  which  are  fighters  from  start  to  finish,  not 
only  holding  the  soil  in  which  they  grow  but  ever  striving  to  gain 
a  hold  on  new  territory.  Of  the  150,  46  belong  to  this  class,  and 
of  the  46,  34  are  introduced  and  only  12  are  native  to  the  State. 
Of  the  34  foreign  species  27  came  from  Europe,  2  from  Asia,  4 
from  tropical  America  and  1  from  the  West. 

Class  II.  comprises  those  weeds  which  are  less  aggressive,  but 
are  yet  annoying  to  the  farmer  and  the  gardener.  All  have  a 
weedy  character  and  many  of  them  seem  to  be  waiting  only  for 
the  proper  conditions  to  arrive  before  jumping  over  the  line  into 
Class  I.  This  Class  is  evenly  divided,  32  species  being  introduced 
and  the  same  number  native  to  the  State.  Of  the  32  outsiders,  24 
are  from  Europe,  4  from  tropical  America  and  4  from  the  West. 

To  Class  III.  belong  those  weeds  which  in  Indiana  occupy  for 
the  most  part  waste  farm  lands,  rarely  encroaching  upon  cultivated 
fields,  or  if  they  do  being  easily  subdued  by  hoe  or  scythe.  A 
number  of  them  yield  more  or  less  forage  for  grazing  stock,  while 
some  are  cut  for  hay  when  other  crops  are  short.  Of  the  40 
species  belonging  to  this  group  33  are  native  to  our  soil  while  7 
came  from  Europe. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  grouping  is  only  from  the 
view-point  of  the  writer,  based  upon  long  observation  of  the  weeds 
of  the  State.  The  reader  may,  from  personal  experience,  have  a 
widely  different  opinion  as  to  which  class  a  certain  weed  should 
be  assigned.  Moreover,  this  grouping  refers  only  to  the  weeds  of 
Indiana.  Some  of  those  in  Class  III.  are  doubtless  members  of 
Class  II.  or  even  I.  in  other  States,  while  some  of  the  worst  of 
Class  I.  may  there  do  little  harm. 

In  addition  to  the  150  weeds  listed  and  described,  77  others 
are,  in  their  proper  order,  mentioned  and  briefly  characterized. 


LOSSES    ENTAILED    BY    RAISING   WEEDS.  18 

They  are  closely  related  to  or  sometimes  only  varieties  of  those  de- 
scribed, and  the  differences  in  habits  being  small  and  remedies  for 
eradication  practically  the  same,  space  was  not  taken  for  their 
more  extended  mention.  Some  of  them,  however,  are  bad  weeds,  9 
belonging  to  Class  I.,  36  to  Class  II.  and  32  to  Class  III.  Of  the 
77,  31  are  introduced  and  46  native  to  Indiana,  7  of  the  9  worst 
ones  being  foreigners. 

If  to  the  46  worst  weeds  listed  we  add  the  9  briefly  charac- 
terized, we  have  in  the  State  55  of  the  most  aggressive  of  weeds. 
Of  these  41,  or  75  per  cent.,  are  of  foreign  origin.  About  the  same 
proportion  of  alien  weeds  is  seen  by  anyone  who  travels  through 
the  Eastern  States,  In  fact,  America  seems  to  be  not  only  the 
"home  of  the  oppressed  of  all  nations"  but  her  soil  seems  to  suit 
exactly  those  weeds  which  are  the  offscourings  and  refuse  of  civil- 
ization in  all  countries.  As  Grant  Allen  has  well  said:  "In  civi- 
lized, cultivated  and  inhabited  New  England,  and  as  far  inland  at 
least  as  the  Mississippi,  the  prevailing  vegetation  is  the  vegetation 
of  Central  Europe,  and  that  at  its  wreediest,  The  daisy,  the  prim- 
rose, the  cowslip  and  the  daffodil  have  stayed  at  home;  the  weeds 
have  gone  to  colonize  the  New  World.  For  thistles  and  burdock, 
dog-fennel  and  dead-nettle,  hound's  tongue  and  stick-seed,  catnip 
and  dandelion,  ox-eye  daisy  and  cocklebur,  America  easily  licks  all 
creation.  All  the  dusty,  noisome  and  malodorous  pests  of  all  the 
world  seem  there  to  revel  in  one  grand  congenial  democratic  orgy." 

How  WEEDS  LESSEN  THE  OUTPUT  OF  THE  FARM. 

The  greatest  question  on  earth  to-day  is,  How  long  will  the 
soil  feed  the  human  race  ?  Any  factor  which  will  serve  to  increase 
that  time,  even  in  small  degree,  is  of  great  economic  importance. 
The  population  of  Indiana  is  ever  increasing.  The  number  of 
acres  of  land  within  her  bounds  will  be  the  same  as  long  as  those 
bounds  remain  as  they  are.  To  increase  the  output  of  the  land 
and  make  the  gain  in  yield  of  farm  products  to  some  extent  keep 
pace  with  the  increase  in  population  is  at  present  the  leading 
problem  which  the  more  intelligent  farmers  of  the  State  are  trying 
to  solve.  One  of  the  greatest  factors  in  this  problem  is  that  of 
weeds.  It  is  a  self-evident  fact  that  in  all  parts  of  the  State  they 
are  in  many  ways  a  source  of  constant  and  heavy  loss  in  the  out- 
put of  the  farm.  Some  of  these  ways  are  briefly  set  forth  in  the 
following  paragraphs : 

a.  They  rob  the  soil  of  much  of  that  plant  food  so  necessary 
to  the  proper  growth  of  cultivated  crops.  As  a  single  example  of 


14 


FNDIAKA    WEED    BOOK. 


this  robbery  it  has  been  shown  by  the  Massachusetts  Experiment 
Station  that  "one  ton  of  ox-eye  daisy  withdraws  from  the  soil  25 
pounds  of  potash,  8.7  pounds  of  phosphoric  acid,  22  pounds  of 
nitrogen  and  26  pounds  of  lime.  To  restore  the  stated  amounts 
of  the  first  three  constituents  to  the  soil  it  would  be  necessary  to 
apply  about  50  pounds  of  muriate  of  potash,  65  pounds  of  super- 
phosphate and  140  pounds  of  nitrate  of  soda."'  It  will  thus  be 
seen  that  this,  as  well  as  all  other  weeds,  feed  upon  precisely  the 
same  foods  as  do  wheat,  corn  and  other  cereal  crops.  The}^  de- 
prive the  crop  with  which  they  grow,  or  one  which  will  come  after 
it,  of  exactly  the  same  amount  of  plant  food  as  they  withdraw, 


Fig.  2.  Mixture  of  weed  seeds  commonly  found  in  low-grade  alsike  clover  seed:  a,  alsike  clover;  6,  white 
clover;  c,  red  clover;  d,  yellow  sweet-clover;  e,  Canada  thistle;  /,  dock;  g,  field  sorrel;  h,  buckhorn;  t,  rat- 
tail  plantain;  k,  lamb's-quarters;  /,  shepherd's  purse;  m,  dog-fennel;  n,  scentless  camomile;  o,  white  campion; 
p,  night-flowering  catch-fly;  q,  ox-eye  daisy;  r,  small-fruited  false  flax;  s,  cinquefoil;  t,  two  kinds  of  pepper- 
grass;  u,  catnip;  r,  timothy;  x,  chickweed;  y,  Canada  blue-grass;  z,  clover  dodder;  /,  mouse-ear  chickweed; 
2,  knot-grars;  3,  tumbling  pigweed;  4,  rough  pigweed;  5,  heal-all;  6,  lady's  thumb.  (After  Hillman.) 

and  if  allowed  to  grow  with  other  crops  will  take  their  due  pro- 
portion of  any  fertilizer  that  may  be  applied. 

ft.  They  rob  the  soil  of  moisture  which  they  waste  by  evapora- 
tion, thus  increasing  the  evil  effects  of  droughts. 

c.  They  crowd  out  and  shade  cultivated  plants,  thus  greatly 
decreasing  the  yield  of  the  latter.  Most  weeds  have  better  devel- 
oped roots  which  penetrate  to  a  greater  depth  than  those  of  the 
plants  with  which  they  grow.  They  therefore  gather  food  and 
moisture  more  readily  and  usually  soon  out-top  many  crops, 
shutting  out  the  sunlight  so  necessary  to  perfect  maturity  of  the 
cultivated  plants. 

'Far.  Bull.  No.  103. 


WEEDS   POISONOUS   TO   STOCK   AND    CHILDREN.  15 

d.  They  increase  the  cost  of  any  crop  not  only  by  taking  the 
time  of  labor  to  keep  them  in  subjection,  but  by  retarding,  espe- 
cially in  cereal  crops,  the  work  of  preparing  the  ground,  seeding, 
harvesting,  threshing,  cleaning  the  grain  and  marketing  the  out- 
put. 

c.  They  cause  a  greater  wear  and  tear  on  farm  machinery, 
especially  mowers,  binders  and  threshing  machines,  often  causing 
them  to  clog  and  break. 

/.  They  frequently  necessitate  an  unprofitable  change  in  the 
rotation  of  crops,  causing  the  farmer  to  produce  some  crop  of  little 
profit  in  order  the  more  quickly  to  get  rid  of  a  certain  weed. 

g.  Some  weeds  such  as  corn  cockle  and  wild  garlic  are  espe- 
cially injurious  to  wheat,  as  when  ground  with  it  they  render  the 
flour  poisonous  and  unpalatable.  Others,  as  buckhorn,  dodder  and 
field  sorrel,  produce  seeds  which  are  very  difficult  to  separate  from 
the  seeds  of  clover,  thus  greatly  increasing  the  cost  of  the  latter. 

Ji.  Very  few  weeds  furnish  pasture  or  food  for  stock  and  some 
of  them,  as  the  water  hemlock,  sneezeweed,  etc.,  are  very  poison- 
ous when  eaten  by  them.  The  burs  of  others  are  very  annoying 
in  wool,  the  manes  of  horses  or  the  tails  of  horses  and  cattle. 

i.  Weeds  such  as  the  nightshades,  water  hemlock,  bitter  sweet, 
pokeweed,  jimson,  etc.,  often  cause  the  death  or  serious  illness  of 
children. 

j.  Many  weeds  furnish  food  or  hibernating  places  for  injurious 
insects.  Examine  carefully  the  winter  rosettes  or  root-leaves  of  a 
mullen,  or  note  the  melon  lice  on  shepherd's  purse  and  pepper- 
grass,  and  be  convinced.  Others  are  propagating  plants  for  rusts 
and  mildews  which  attack  vegetables  and  small  grains  of  many 
kinds. 

/)•.  Finally  most  weeds  are  unsightly  objects,  being  at  some  or 
all  stages  of  their  existence  eyesores  whose  presence  not  only  in- 
dicates a  negligent  and  slovenly  farmer  but  damages  the  appear- 
ance and  lessens  the  value  of  any  land  which  he  may  wish  to  sell. 

BENEFITS  OF  WEEDS. 

To  the  practical  farmer,  who  delights  in  a  highly  productive 
and  clean  farm,  weeds  offer  apparently  little  of  value  to  offset  their 
many  disadvantages.  Yet  they  possess  some  virtues  and  are  not 
to  be  considered  wholly  as  enemies. 

When  plowed  under  they  of  course  add  some  humus  and  fer- 
tility to  the  soil,  while  if  allowed  to  grow  after  a  crop  has  been 
harvested  they  shade  the  ground  thus  conserving  many  forms  of 


16  THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 

plant  food.  Their  greatest  benefit,  however,  lies  in  the  fact  that 
they  induce  frequent  and  thorough  cultivation  of  the  soil,  thus 
increasing  largely  the  output  of  any  crop  which  may  be  grown. 
On  this  point  L.  H.  Bailey  maintains:  '"That  weeds  always  have 
been  and  still  are  the  closest  friends  and  helpmates  of  the  farmer. 
It  was  they  which  first  taught  the  lesson  of  the  tillage  of  the  soil, 
and  it  is  they  which  never  allow  the  lesson,  now  that  it  has  been 
partly  learned,  to  be  forgotten.  The  one  only  and  sovereign  rem- 
edy for  them  is  the  very  tillage  which  they  have  introduced.  When 
their  mission  is  finally  matured,  therefore,  they  will  disappear,  be- 
cause there  will  be  no  place  in  which  they  can  grow.  It  would  be 
a  great  calamity  if  they  were  now  to  disappear  from  the  earth, 
for  the  greater  number  of  farmers  still  need  the  discipline  which 
they  enforce.  Probably  not  one  farmer  in  ten  would  till  his  lands 
well  if  it  were  not  for  these  painstaking  schoolmasters,  and  many 
of  them  would  not  till  at  all.  Until  farmers  till  for  tillage's  sake, 
and  not  to  kill  the  weeds,  it  is  necessary  that  the  weeds'  shall  exist, 
but  when  farmers  do  till  for  tillage's  sake,  then  weeds  will  dis- 
appear with  no  effort  of  ours. ' ' 

THE  WEEDS  OF  CITIES  AND  TOWNS. 

Weeds  are  not  only  a  curse  to  the  farmer  but  the  city  resident 
is  also  greatly  troubled  with  them.  Many  an  hour  does  he  spend 
on  his  lawns,  grubbing  dandelions  and  other  pests  which  are  fight- 
ing the  blue-grass,  while  in  his  alleys  and  backyards  many  an  un- 
sightly species  is  constantly  attempting  to  grow  and  ripen  its 
seeds.  In  all  cities,  and  especially  in  and  about  country  towns, 
there  are  numerous  vacant  lots  and  commons  which  each  year  pro- 
duce nothing  but  a  big  crop  of  the  vilest  of  weeds.  The  largest 
patch  of  Canada  thistle  which  the  writer  ever  saw  was  on  one  of 
these  waste  places  in  the  city  of  Indianapolis.  Prickly  lettuce  and 
sow-thistles,  cockleburs  and  horse-weed,  burdock  and  bull  thistles, 
spiny  amaranth  and  pigweed,  dog-fennel  and  Mexican  tea,  sweet- 
clovers  and  wild  mustard,  jimson- weeds  and  wild  carrots  grow 
rankly  on  these  lots  and  form  dense  thickets  through  which  a  per- 
son can  scarcely  force  his  way.  Being  for  the  most  part  level  these 
city  or  town  lots  have  at  some  time  been  cultivated  and  the  orig- 
inal growth  of  grass  and  trees  removed,  leaving  a  surface  excel- 
lently adapted  to  these  worst  of  migratory  weeds.  Their  seeds  are 
introduced  in  many  ways,  more  easily  indeed  than  in  the  open 
country,  for  here  rubbish  of  all  kinds  is  dumped,  such  as  bedding 
from  stables  and  stock  cars,  packing  from  about  china  and  glass- 


WEEDS    OF    CITIES    AND    TOWNS.  17 

ware,  sweepings  From  elo suitors  and  grain  stores  and  refuse  from 
kitchens.  In  many  instances  the  lots  are  low  and  the  owners  have 
them  filled  with  the  material  mentioned,  thus  furnishing  an  exeel- 
lent  seed  bed  already  planted  for  many  a  weed.  Oftentimes  these 
weed  patehs  are  wholly  or  partly  surrounded  by  high  bill-boards, 
thus  hiding  the  weeds  from  sight  and  allowing  them  to  flourish 
without  molestation. 

These  city  and  town  weeds,  as  long  as  growing  vigorously,  are 
somewhat  beneficial  in  that  they  serve  to  purify  the  air  by  using 
carbonic  acid  gas  and  throwing  off  oxygen.  As  soon  as  they  die, 
however,  they  begin  to  decay  and  reverse  this  process,  absorbing 
the  oxygen  and  throwing  off  the  gas,  and  should  be  at  once  mowed 
and  removed.  They  gather  dust  and  harbor  bacteria  and  various 
injurious  fungi;  shade  the  soil  and  keep  it  damp  and  sour;  while 
certain  species  produce  great  quantities  of  pollen  which  is  often 
very  irritating.  Growing  as  they  do  where  many  children  congre- 
gate, the  poisonous  species,  such  as  pokeweed,  nightshade  and  jim- 
son  are  very  apt  to  be  eaten.  The  three-leaved  ivy,  with  its  at- 
tractive foliage  and  poisonous  juices  or  exhalations,  often  occurs 
along  the  borders  of  these  city  lots  and  causes  blisters  on  the  skin 
of  many  a  youngster. 

Instead  of  raising  noxious  weeds  these  vacant  lots  should  be 
put  to  more  important  uses.  In  most  of  the  cities  and  larger 
towns  there  are  many  poor  people  who  would  be  glad  to  utilize 
them  for  gardens.  Such  use  would  not  depreciate  their  value  for 
building  purposes  and  would  greatly  lessen  the  cost  of  living  of 
the  needy  and  the  amount  necessarily  bestowed  in  charity  upon 
them.  In  many  places  the  weeds  and  rubbish  can  be  removed  at 
a  small  cost,  the  surface  leveled  and  sown  to  some  perennial  grass, 
and  the  plot  then  used  as  a  playground  for  children.  Such  play- 
grounds are  always  welcomed  in  the  crowded  portions  of  the  larger 
cities,  where  open  places  for  that  romping  and  running  so  dear  to 
a  child's  heart  and  so  necessary  to  its  health,  are  often  few  or 
absent. 

CLASSIFICATION  OF  "WEEDS  ACCORDING  TO  LIFE  PERIOD. 

Weeds,  like  other  plants,  are  grouped,  according  to  the  length 
of  time  they  live,  into  three  classes,  vi/.,  annuals,  biennials  and 
perennials. 

ANNUALS. — An  annual  weed  is  one  that  rounds  out  its  cycle 
of  existence  within  a  single  year  Of  these  there  are  two  sub- 
classes, ordinary  or  "summer  annuals"  and  "winter  annuals." 

[2] 


18  THE    IXDIAXA    WEED    BOOK. 

Ordinary  annuals  spring  from  the  seed  in  spring,  mature,  blossom 
and  ripen  their  seeds  before  the  frosts  of  autumn.  Ragweed,  fox- 
tail, purslane  and  crab-grass  are  4  of  our  worst  weeds  which  are 
examples  of  this  group.  As  a  rule  these  summer  annuals  have 
small  fibrous  roots  and  produce  many  seeds. 

Winter  annuals  spring  from  the  seed  in  late  summer  or  au- 
tumn, produce  a  growth  of  root-leaves  before  the  ground  is 
thoroughly  frozen,  then  in  early  spring  send  up  a  flower-stalk  and 
ripen  their  seeds  usually  by  May  or  June.  Shepherd's  purse, 
pepper-grass,  white-top  and  prickly  lettuce  are  among  our  worst 
of  winter  annuals,  while  winter  wheat  and  rye  are  cultivated  ex- 
amples. Some  of  these  weeds  are  both  winter  and  summer  an- 
nuals, a  part  of  the  seed  germinating  in  the  spring  and  the  flowers 
appearing  much  later  in  the  season  than  those  of  the  same  species 
from  the  winter  annuals. 

In  dealing  with  annual  weeds  the  one  general  and  obvious 
method  is  to  destroy  them  in  some  manner  before  their  seeds  ripen. 
This  can  best  be  done  by  mowing,  pulling,  cutting  with  the  hoe 
or  smothering  with  the  cultivator.  If  this  be  kept  up  for  a  few 
years  and  the  work  thoroughly  done  they  will  be  completed  eradi- 
cated from  a  farm.  They  would  all  be  destroyed  the  first  season 
were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  the  seeds  of  many  species  possess 
great  vitality  and  often  remain  in  the  ground  for  years  without 
impairing  their  power  of  growth.  When  brought  close  enough  to 
the  surface,  if  the  conditions  of  moisture  and  temperature  are 
right,  they  usually  sprout  at  once.  Any  method  of  cultivation, 
especially  in  late  fall  or  early  spring,  which  will  cause  these  buried 
seeds  to  germinate  will  thus  go  far  towards  getting  rid  of  annual 
weeds,  provided,  of  course,  the  young  ones  are  killed  as  they  ap- 
pear. The  young  plants  of  ragweed,  wild  mustard,  lamb's  quar- 
ters, black  bindweed  and  many  other  annuals  are  easily  uprooted 
and  killed  by  harrowing  in  autumn  the  growing  crop  of  wheat, 
oats  or  rye  with  a  light  slope-toothed  harrow.  After  the  crop  is 
well  up,  and  there  is  no  danger  of  covering  the  blades  too  deeply, 
few  if  any  grain  plants  will  be  dragged  out  if  the  work  is  done 
when  the  land  is  in  proper  condition  for  harrowing 

BIENNIALS. — A  biennial  is  a  two-year  plant,  that  is,  one  which 
springs  from  a  seed  and  spends  the  first  season  in  storing  up  a 
supply  of  nourishment  in  a  large  root  or  tuber,  this  being  used 
the  second  season  in  promoting  a  rapid  growth  and  producing 
flowers  and  seeds.  Among  our  worst  biennial  weeds  are  the  com- 
mon thistle,  wild  carrot,  mullen,  burdock  and  hound's  tongue.  Bi- 


THE   USE   OP   THE   SPUD.  19 

ennials  grow  for  the  most  part  along  roadsides,  borders  of  fields 
and  in  pastures,  as  their  roots  will  not  withstand  thorough  culti- 
vation. 

Any  method  of  destroying  the  root  or  the  top  of  the  plant  be- 
fore the  seeds  ripen  will  eventually  get  rid  of  this  class  of  weeds  in 
cultivated  ground.  A  single  mowing  which  is  sufficient 
for  most  annuals  will,  however,  not  do  with  biennials,  for 
the  thick  root  will  immediately  send  up  new  stems.  In 
pastures  and  other  places  where  cultivation  is  not  prac- 
ticable, deep  cutting  below  the  crown  or  bud  of  the  root 
is  the  best  method  of  getting  rid  of  biennials.  This  can 
best  be  done  with  a  heavy  hoc  or  spud,  the  latter  being  a 
large  chisel  set  on  the  end  of  a  long  handle.* 

PERENNIALS. — These  are  plants  which  spring  up  year 
after  year  from  the  same  or  adjacent  root  systems.  They 
grow  from  seeds,  creeping  underground  stems  or  root- 
stocks,  or  from  bulbous  or  tap-roots.  When  once  started 
they  continue  in  the  same  spot  or  spread  gradually  from 
it  in  all  directions.  Among  our  worst  perennial  weeds 
which  spread  by  rootstocks  are  the  Canada  thistle,  bind- 
weed, horse-nettle  and  couch-grass,  while  examples  of 
those  \vith  ordinary  or  tap-roots  are  plantains,  curled  dock 
and  steelweed. 

Perennials  are  by  far  the  most  troublesome  weeds  to 
chid       eradicate  and  require  in  some  instances  the  cultivation  of 
a  special  crop  to  get  rid  of  them.     Before  attempting  to 
kill  out  sny  one  of  then*   a   careful  study  of  the  under- 
ground portion  should  be  made   as,   until  this  is  done,   effective 
eradication  is  impossible.     As  the  leaves,  like  those  of  all  plants, 
are  the  special  organs  which  manufacture  and  store  food  in  the 
roots   and   underground    stems,    several    successive    mowings   each 
year  will  so  weaken  the  roots  and  stems  of  many  perennials  that 
they  will  gradually  die  out.     The  task  of  mowing  a  perennial,  such 
as  iron-weed,  from  a  large  tract  several  times  each  season  is  at 


*In  Canada  and  some  of  the  northern  states  the  spud  is  extensively  used  in  effectively  getting  rid  of  many 
weeds,  but  in  Indiana  it  seems  to  he  almost  unknown.  "It  consists  of  a  light,  round  handle,  resembling  that  of  a 
broom,  and  of  a  blade  shaped  somewhat  like  that  of  a  chisel,  but  more  tapering  from  the  end  of  the  blade  to  the 
handle  on  which  it  is  ^tted  like  a  common  hoe.  Its  length  is  about  5  feet  from  end  to  end.  The  blade  is  about 
8  inches  long,  1%  inches  broad  at  the  cutting  end  and  5^-inch  broad  at  the  shoulder.  It  should  be  thin,  not 
more  than  M-inch  thick  at  shoulder  and  thinning  gradually  to  the  cutting  edge.  In  using  the  spud  in  a  wheat 
field  one  walks  astride  a  row  of  grain  and  cuts  below  the  surface  all  noxious  weeds  within  6  feet  on  either  side 
thus  clearing  a  strip  of  12  feet  in  width.  A  small  file  should  always  he  carried  for  sharpening  the  blade.  The 
spud  is  designed  rather  to  maintain  than  to  secure  cleanliness,  and  is  used  most  effectively  to  prevent  the  seeding 
of  scattered  winter  annual  and  biennial  plants  in  cultivated  fields,  along  fence-rows  and  roadsides."  Shaw. 
"  Weeds  and  How  to  Eradicate  Them."  103-105. 


20 


THE    IXDTAXA    WEED    BOOK. 


first  a  laborious  one,  but  each  year  gradually  lessens  until  in  time 
it  takes  but  a  few  hours,  whereas  at  first  it  may  have  taken  a 
week.  A  perennial  with  running  rootstocks  close  to  the  surface  can 
often  be  in  great  part  eradicated  by  several  shallow  plowings  and 
harrowings  in  summer,  thus  allowing  the  sun  to  reach  and  dry  up 
the  underground  parts;  or  it  may  be  killed  by  covering  deeply 
with  soil  in  early  spring  and  so  smothering  out  the  perennial  por- 
tion, that  is,  preventing  it  from  forming  leaves  to  store  up  future 
nourishment.  Another  method  of  dealing  with  perennial  weeds  is 
to  crowd  them  out  with  clover,  rye  or  some  early  and  rapidly  grow- 
ing crop.  Many  weeds  are  killed  out  more  easily  in  this  than  any 
other  way. 

GENERAL  RULES  FOR  EXTERMINATING  WEEDS  AND  KEEPING 
THE  FARM  CLEAN. 

1.  Sow  CLEAN  SEED. — Examine  carefully  all  seeds  purchased, 
especially  those  of  clover  and  grasses,  to  see  that  they  do  not  have 

weed  seeds  mixed  with  them.  It  is  far  better 
at  any  time  to  pay  a  high  price  for  clean  seed 
than  a  low  price  for  seed  that  will  stock  the 
farm  with  weeds.  If  the  farmer  cannot  buy 
clean  seed  he  should  raise  it  upon  a  tract  of 
ground  especially  prepared  and  kept  clean 
for  the  purpose.  In  the  list  which  follows  a 
Fig. 4.  Linen  tester.  i)rief  description  of  the  seeds  of  each  of  the 

Avorst  weeds  is  given.  A  linen  tester,  which  costs  about  40  cents, 
will  enable  one  to  recognize,  after  a  little  practice,  80  per  cent,  of 
the  seeds  of  Indiana  weeds.  A  pocket 
Coddington  lens  of  one-half  inch  focus, 
costing  about  $1.50,  is  still  better  and 
will  enable  one  to  see  the  finer  points 
of  ail  seeds.  These  lenses  can  be  had  of 
the  Bausch  &  Lomb  Optical  Co.,  Ro- 
chester, N.  Y. 

2.  ROTATE  THE  CROPS. — Top  many  farmers  of  Indiana  keep  on 
year  after  year  "raising  more  corn  to  feed  more  hogs  to  buy  more 
land  to  raise  more  corn,"  etc.     Not  only  this,  but  they  raise  corn 
on  the  same  land,  especially  if  it  be  bottom  ground,  for  10  or  more 
years  in  succession.     The  weeds  get  used  to  this  sort  of  thing  and 
know  just  what  to  expect  and  what  to  do  to  survive  most  success- 
fully.    Surprise  them  once  by  changing  the  program  and  note  the 


Fig.  5.    Coddington  lens. 


RULES   FOR   EXTERMINATING   WEEDS.  21 

good  results.  A  systematic  short  rotation  of  crops  with  regular 
seeding  down  at  short  intervals  to  grasses  or  clover  will  do  more 
to  solve  the  weed  problem  than  any  other  rule  which  can  be  laid 
down.  In  the  same  way  that  weeds  crowd  out  crops  and  reduce 
the  yield,  so  may  weeds  themselves  be  choked  out  by  these  more 
vigorous  and  thickly  seeded  crops  which  will  prevent  them  from 
getting  light  and  air. 

3.  KEEP  WEEDS  FROM  RIPENING  SEEDS. — p]ach  farmer  owes  it 
not  only  to  himself  but  to  his  neighbors  to  obey  this  the  "  golden 
rule"  of  weed  prevention.     One  slovenly  farmer  who  neglects  his 
weeds  is  a  bane  to  any  neighborhood,  for  all  surrounding  him  must 
suffer  for  his  neglect.     Such  a  farmer  lets  the  weeds  grow  and 
ripen  on  the  spots  in  his  wheat  fields  where  the  corn  shocks  have 
stood.    He  lets  the  jimson  grow  in  the  barnyard,  the  thistle  by  the 
roadside,  the  burdock  in  the  fence  corners  of  his  orchard      Each 
of  these  weeds  is  a  placard  on  which  the  word  "slovenly"  ap- 
pears in  autumn  to  every  passer-by. 

Nothing  is  truer  than  the  old  adage 

"A  weed  that  runs  to  seed 
Is  a  seven  year's  weed." 

Especially  is  this  true  of  the  first  specimen  of  any  strange  weed 
that  appears  in  a  neighborhood.  Then,  if  ever,  should  the  old 
Ovidian  phrase,  "Principiis  obsta,"  be  acted  upon  by  the  farmer. 
"Nip  the  first  buddings  of  evil"  is  a  free  translation.  Cut  with 
a  hoe  or  spud  the  stem  of  the  stranger  before  it  opens  its  bud  and 
perchance  future  generations  will  rise  up  and  call  ye  blessed.  Do 
not  think  that  because  there  are  only  a  few  weeds  in  a  field  that 
you  can  afford  to  let  them  go.  Each  one  which  seeds  this  year  will 
perhaps  be  represented  by  5,000  next  year.  The  one  can  be  de 
stroyed  in  a  few  seconds,  the  5,000  will  require  a  day's  hard  work. 

4.  BURN  OVER  STUBBLE  OR  FALLOW  FIELDS. — The   seeds  of  a 
myriad  weeds  can  be  easily  destroyed  in  this  way.     Not  only  fu- 
ture weeds  but  many  injurious  insects  will  also  be  killed.     Almost 
any  field  can  be  burned  over  in  autumn  without  much  danger  by 
running  a  couple  of  furrows  around  it  and  setting  fire  when  the 
wind  is  not  too  high. 

5.  PLOW  IN  AUTUMN. — The  plowing  and  harrowing  or  other- 
wise cultivating  stubble  and  other  fields  in  early  autumn  will  cause 
many  seeds,  especially  those  of  annual  weeds,  to  germinate.     The 
young  weeds  will  mostly  be  winter-killed  and  those  which  survive 


22  THE   INDIANA    WEED   BOOK. 

can  be  easily  controlled  by  cultivation  in  early  spring.  The  fall 
plowing  should  not  be  done  until  the  land  has  been  burned  over, 
for  weeds  with  ripened  seeds  should  never  be  plowed  under.  Pall 
plowing  is  also  one  of  the  best  remedies  for  destroying  wire-worms, 
cut-worms,  white  grubs  and  many  other  larval  forms  of  noxious  in- 
sects. 

6.  Do  AWAY  WITH  MANY  FENCES. — The  removal  of  permanent 
fences  from  between  fields  and  the  cultivation  of  the  ground  thus 
redeemed  will  aid  much  in  clearing  the  farm  of  weeds.     Unless  a 
large  amount  of  stock  is  kept  on  a  farm  but  few  inside  fences  are 
really  necessary.     In  many  instances  a  temporary  fence  of  wire 
which  can  be  shifted  from  place  to  place  can  be  used  to  control 
the  stock.     There  is  no  more  prolific   breeding  place  for  many 
noxious  weeds  than  along  the  fence-rows  of  cultivated  fields.     Es- 
pecially is  this  true  of  the  old  Virginia  rail  fences.    Many  a  plant 
destined  to  become  a  scourge  to  the  farmer  ripens  its  first  seeds 
within  the  projecting  and  protecting  angles  of  these  old  fences. 
There,  safe  from  the  plow  and  the  hoe,  the  future  weed  succeeds 
in  its  struggle  with  its  associates,  ripens  its  seeds  by  scores  or 
thousands  and  sends  them  forth,  borne  by  the  winds  of  heaven  or 
the  wings  of  birds  to  cultivated  and  fallow  fields.     Thousands  of 
acres  of  the  richest  land  in  the  State  are  rendered  useless  by  un- 
necessary fence-rows.     Redeem  this  land  and  do  away  with  the 
seed  beds  of  many  weeds. 

7.  Do  NOT  ATTEMPT  TOO  MUCH. — To  use  a  slang  expression,  the 
average  Indiana  farmer,  each  spring,  "bites  off  more  than  he  can 
chew."    He  attempts,  single-handed,  to  tend  60  or  80  acres  of  corn 
and  raises   more  w^eeds   than   corn-stalks,   whereas  if  he  had   at- 
tempted 30  or  at  most  40  acres  his  yield  would  have  been  more  and 
of  better  quality.     The  tendency  everywhere  in  the  future  will  be 
fewer  acres,  bigger  crops.     Intensive  farming  of  small  tracts  is  the 
one  principal  solution  of  the  great  question:  How  shall  the  earth 
feed  its  people  ?    Therefore  break  up  no  more  acres  each  year  than 
you  can  keep  clean,  and  keep  at  keeping  it  clean. 

8.  KEEP  THE  FARM  MACHINERY  CLEAN. — A  threshing  machine 
taken  from  one  farm  or  one  locality  to  another  should  be  thoroughly 
cleaned  before  being  set  to  work.     They  carry  many  weed  seeds 
which  are  scattered  along  roadsides   and  over  the   fields.     They 
should  also  at  first  be  run  empty  for  a  few  minutes  and  the  seeds 
that  are  caught  in  the  grain  box  destroyed.     Grain  sacks  from 
other  farms  should  be  shaken  over  some  receptacle  before  using. 


RULES   FOR   EXTERMINATING   WEEDS.  23 

Self  binders  and  grain  drills  should  also  be  cleaned  before  using, 
as  they  are  apt  to  carry  many  weed  seeds.  Harrows  and  cultiva- 
tors should  be  examined  to  see  that  no  bits  of  the  underground 
stems  of  perennial  weeds  are  attached  to  them.  The  man  with  a 
clean  farm  will  look  after  these  things,  for  where  comparative 
cleanliness  has  been  once  secured,  ''an  ounce  of  prevention  is  worth 
a  pound  of  cure. ' ' 

9.  USE  SHEEP  AS  AN  AID  IN  WEED  FIGHTING. — There  is  no  more 
efficient  help  in  keeping  down  the  weeds  on  a  farm  than  a  flock 
of  sheep.     There  are  few  pasture  weeds  that  they  will  not  keep 
grazed  down  if  they  can  get  at  them  when  they  are  young  and  on 
a  freshly  cut  stubble  field,  where  other  forage  is  scarce,  they  will 
destroy  young  ragweeds  and  foxtail  by  thousands.     If  turned  into 
a  timothy  meadow  containing  white-top  for  a  few  days  before  the 
hay  is  cut  they  will  eat  out  the  weed  and  do  little  damage  to  the 
hay.    In  a  corn-field  in  early  autumn  they  will  destroy  many  weeds 
without  injury  to  the  ears.     Where  annual  or  biennial  weeds  are 
very  plentiful  on  a  tract  of  land  there  is  no  more  effective  way 
of  fighting  them  than  by  growing  two  or  three  crops,  such  as  rye 
and  millet  or  rape  in  a  single  season  and  grazing  them  off  with 
sheep.     It  will  be  necessary  to  have  the  tract  divided  into  plots 
so  that  there  may  be  alternation  in  grazing  and  growing.     Remem- 
ber the  old  saying  "all  flesh  is  grass"  and  modify  it  to  read  "some 
flesh  is  weeds,"  by  feeding  the  sheep  upon  them. 

10.  INCREASE  THE  FERTILIZATION  OR  DRAINAGE. — Many  weeds 
are  soil  indicators,  their  presence  being  evidence  that  the  soil  is 
lacking  in  fertility  or  is  too  wet.     Such  weeds  are  most  easily  con- 
trolled by  changing  the  conditions.     Thus  cinquefoil,  mullen  and 
field  sorrel  growing  together  on  the  slope  of  some  old  field  proves 
conclusively  that  the  soil  is  half  barren  and  should  be  improved  by 
lime  and  fertilizer.     Wet  places  should  be  drained  to  get  rid  of 
such  weeds  as  sedges,  spearmint  and  tickseeds.     Proper  fertilisa- 
tion and  the  raising  of  good  crops  will  in  many  instances  cause  the 
weeds  to  give  way  wholly  to  field  crops,  as  the  spread  of  weeds  is 
usually  much  more  rapid  on  half  barren  lands  than  on  rich  ones. 
Soiling  crops,  or  those  such  as  rape,  peas,  soy  beans,  etc.,  which  are 
cut  green  for  feed  and  partly  plowed  under,  not  only  aid  in  fertiliz- 
ing the  land  but  smother  out  many  weeds.    In  Indiana  in  the  past 
too  much  land  has  been  devoted  solely  to  the  raising  of  cereals  and 
too  little  to  more  diversified  and  partly  fertilizing  crops.    Since  the 
cereals  are  almost  always  wholly  removed  from  the  land  the  re- 


24  THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 

suit  has  been  that  much  of  it  has  become  impoverished  and  Aveed 
ridden,  and  is  therefore  cultivated  at  a  minimum  profit.  Feed  the 
crops  and  smother  the  weeds. 

11.  TRY  SPRAYING  FOR  SOME  WEEDS. — Within  recent  years  it  has 
been  proven  that  many  weeds,  especially  those  with  comparatively 
broad  leaves,  such  as  wild  mustard,  ox-eye  daisy,  white-top,  horse- 
nettle,  wild  carrot,  yarrow,  etc.,  can  be  practically  eradicated  from 
timothy,  wheat,  oats  and  rye  and  from  pastures  by  the  use  of 
chemical  sprays.  The  success  of  this  method  depends  largely  upon 
the  fact  that  cereals  and  grasses  are  narrow-leaved  plants  with  a 
single  seed  leaf,  whereas  the  weeds  mentioned  and  many  others  are 
broad-leaved  plants  with  two  seed  leaves.  This  fact  enables  one  to 
use  the  chemical  for  weed  killing  without  much  injury  to  the 
cereals  or  grasses. 

The  three  spray  solutions  most  used  and  the  quantity  applied 
are:  (a)  Iron  sulphate  (copperas)  solution,  formed  by  dissolving 
100  pounds  of  copperas  in  50  gallons  of  water  and  used  at  the  rate 
of  50  to  60  gallons  per  acre  A  granular  form  of  iron  sulphate  can 
at  present  be  bought  for  $8  to  $10  per  ton.  (&)  Copper  sulphate 
(blue  vitriol)  solution,  containing  8  to  10  pounds  of  blue  vitriol 
dissolved  in  50  gallons  oP  water  and  applied  at  the  rate  of  40  to 
50  gallons  per  acre.  The  vitriol  in  barrel  lots  of  480  pounds  costs 
5  to  6  cents  per  pound.  (<?)  Common  salt  solution,  containing  3 
pounds  of  salt  to  the  gallon  of  water  and  used  at  the  rate  of  50  to 
60  gallons  per  acre.  A  barrel  of  salt,  280-300  pounds,  costs  about 
$1.15. 

For  spraying  large  tracts  a  good  spraying  machine  of  consid- 
erable force  is  necessary,  while  for  small  areas  hand  or  knapsack 
sprays  may  be  used.  Both  should  have  good  spray  nozzles  which 
will  deposit  the  solution  as  a  fine  mist  upon  the  leaves  of  the  weeds. 
Special  weed-spraying  outfits  are  now  on  sale  in  almost  any  large 
city.  The  following  directions,  as  given  by  the  Wisconsin  Experi- 
ment Station  for  spraying  oat  fields  with  a  solution  of  iron  sulphate 
for  the  killing  of  wild  mustard,  will  apply  to  the  treatment  of  al- 
most any  grain  or  grass  field  : 

"The  spraying  should  be  done  on  a  calm,  bright  day.  after  the  dew 
has  disappeared,  as  the  work  is  more  effective  if  the  solution  is  put  on  in 
the  warm  sunlight.  When  rain  follows  the  spraying  within  a  few  hours 
tho  extermination  of  the  mustard  will  not  be  complete. 

The  grain  fields  should  be  sprayed  when  the  mustard  plants,  are  in  the 
third  leaf,  or  before  the  plants  are  in  blossom,  in  order  to  have  the  spray 
do  the  most  effective  work.  The  day  following  the  spraying  the  tips  of 


BIRDS    AS    WEED    SEED    DESTROYERS.  25 

the  blades  of  the  grain  may  Ixe  somewhat  blackened  but  no  detrimental 
effects  can  l>e  noticed,  either  to  the  crop  or  grasses  seeded  with  it,  two 
weeks  after  spraying. 

Daisies,  rocklebur,  bindweed,  ragweed,  chicory,  sheep  sorrel,  yellow 
dock,  wild  lettuce  and  many  other  weeds  were  partially  or  wholly  eradi- 
cated from  the  tields  where  tests  were  made  for  the  extermination  of 
mustard." 

In  Ohio  Sclby  lias  found  the  common  salt  solution  best  for 
dandelions,  Canada  thistle,  poison  ivy  and  horse  nettle,  and  either 
the  iron  sulphate  or  salt  solution  effective  on  timothy  meadow 
weeds  such  as  wild  mustard,  white-top,  yarrow,  etc.  The  copper 
sulphate  solution  is  poisonous  to  stock  and  should  therefore  not  be 
used  in  pastures.  The  use  of  sprays  for  weed  killing  has  not  yet 
passed  the  experimental  stage,  but  enough  has  been  done  to  prove 
its  effectiveness  on  the  worst  weeds  of  meadows,  pastures  and  road- 
sides. 

The  application  of  salt,  coal-oil  or  some  acid  to  the  roots  of 
perennial  weeds  immediately  after  they  have  been  cut  close  with 
scythe  or  hoe  has  proven  effective  in  many  instances.  In  pastures, 
where  salt  alone  should  be  used,  the  stock  often  aid  materially  in 
keeping  down  the  weeds,  by  attempting  to  secure  the  "salt  from 
about  the  roots. 

12.  PROTECT  THE  SEFD-EATINU  BIRDS. — Were  it  not  for  the  aid 
given  him  by  seed-eating  birds  the  subjugation  of  many  of  our 
worst  weeds  would  be  for  man  a  hopeless  task.  Each  fall  and 
winter  they  flock  by  thousands  to  the  farms  and  gardens  and  live 
upon  the  ripened  seeds  of  weeds.  The  birds  which  are  most  bene- 
ficial as  seed  eaters  are  the  sparrows  and  finches  of  the  family 
Fringillida?,  38  of  which  are  known  to  occur  in  Indiana,  17  of  them 
being  found  here  in  winter.  The  chief  character  which  distinguishes 
this  family  is  a  thick,  cone-shaped  bill  which  is  shorter  than  the 
head  and  abruptly  angulated  or  drawn  down  at  the  corners  of  the 
mouth.  With  this  they  can  crack  the  hard  outer  shell  of  most  of 
the  smaller  seeds  and  feed  upon  the  rich  nutritious  kernels  within. 

Two  of  the  most  common  and  most  beneficial  of  the  sparrows 
which  winter  with  us  are  the  tree  sparrow  and  the  junco  or  snow- 
bird. These  two  nest  far  up  in  British  America  but  arrive  in 
numbers  from  the  north  about  mid-October  and  remain  till  April 
1st  or  later.  They  live  almost  wholly  upon  the  seeds  of  such 
annual  weeds  as  foxtail,  ragweed,  smartweed,  bindweed,  crab- 
grass  and  pigweed.  Prof.  F.  L.  Real  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of 
Agriculture  examined  the  stomachs  of  many  tree  sparrows,  finding 


26 


THE    INDIANA    AVEED   BOOK. 


them  entirely  filled  with  weed  seeds.  He 
estimated  that  each  bird  consumed  at  least  a 
quarter  of  an  ounce  of  such  seed  daily.  Mak- 
ing a  fair  allowance  for  the  number  of  tree 
sparrows  to  the  square  mile,  lie  calculated 
that  in  the  State  of  Iowa  the  tree  sparrow 
alone  destroys  each  winter  about  1,750,000 
pounds  or  875  tons  of  weed  seeds.  In  the 
stomach  of  a  single  one  of  these  birds  was 
found  at  one  time  700  seeds  of  foxtail. 

All  the  sparrows  deserve  the  especial  pro- 
tection of  the  farmer  as  they  feed  not  only 
upon  weed  seeds  in  autumn,  winter  and  early 
spring,  but  destroy  many  forms  of  noxious  in- 
sects in  summer.  Among  the  most  numerous 
and  beneficial  of  the  sparrows  in  Indiana  be- 
sides the  two  mentioned  are  the  goldfinch  or 
thistle  bird,  the  field,  fox  and  song  sparrows, 
the  chewink  and  cardinal  or  redbird,  the 
white  crowned,  white  throated  and  chipping 
sparrows,  the  dickcissel,  grasshopper  sparrow 
and  lark  finch  and  the  bay-winged  and  indigo 
buntings. 

In  addition  to  the  sparrows  the  chief  seed  eating  birds  occur- 
ring in  the  State  are  the  mourning  dove,  quail,  blackbirds,  bobo- 
link, cowbird  and  horned  and  meadow  larks.  Some  of  these  feed 
largely  upon  grain  as  well  as  weed  seeds,  but  the  good  that  they 
do  far  outweighs  the  bad.  No  less  than  50  different  kinds  of  birds 
act  as  seed  destroyers.  During  cold  weather  they  require  an 
abundance  of  food  to  keep  their  bodies  warm,  and  it  is  the  habit 
of  the  sparrows  that  then  flock  to  the  weed  patches  to  keep  their 
stomachs  and  gullets  heaping  full.  In  time  of  deep  snows,  when 
the  weeds  are  covered,  many  of  them  starve  and  then  especially 
can  the  farmer  reward  and  protect  them  by  scattering  wheat  and 
other  grain  where  they  can  easily  find  it. 

13.  MAINTAIN  THE  CLEANLINESS. — After  a  farm  has  once  been 
comparatively  cleared  of  weeds  it  should  be  kept  in  that  condition. 
With  the  proper  care  this  can  be  done  with  little  labor  and  small 
cost.  Meadows  and  grain  fields  should  be  gone  over  just  before 
the  grass  or  grain  is  ripe  and  all  weeds  such  as  white-top,  dock, 
buckhorn,  corn  cockle,  etc..  pulled  or  cut  with  hoe  or  spud.  This 
work  should  be  thoroughly  done  so  as  to  prevent  any  seeds  from 


Fig.  6.  Weed  seeds  commonly 
eaten  by  bird?:  a,  bindweed; 
6,  lamb's  quarters;  c,  purslane; 
d,  pigweed;  e,  spotted  spurge; 
/,  ragweed;  g,  foxtail;  h,  dande- 
lion. (After  Judd.) 


IMPORTANT    PROBLEMS    WHICH    WEEDS    MUST    SOLVE.  27 

ripening.  If  the  grain  fields  have  been  seeded  down  to  grass  or 
clover  they  should  be  gone  over  a  second  time  in  September  and 
any  visible  weeds  removed.  If  fall  cultivation  is  to  be  done  this 
will  not  be  necessary.  Permanent  pastures,  fence-rows,  borders  of 
woodlands,  roadsides  and  other  uncultivated  tracts  should  also  be 
carefully  looked  after  in  late  summer  to  prevent  seeds  from  ma- 
turing. When  a  farm  has  once  become  fairly  clean  a  farm  hand 
should  be  able  to  go  over  it  with  hoe  or  spud  at  the  rate  of  10  acres 
a  day.  If  the  hand  receives  $1.50  per  day  and  goes  over  a  100  acre 
farm  twice  each  year,  the  entire  cost  of  keeping  the  weeds  in  sub- 
jection will  not  be  over  $30  to  $40  per  annum.  With  short  rota- 
tion of  crops  the  whole;  farm  will  not  have  to  be  gone  over  twice,  as 
the  necessary  cultivation,  if  properly  done,  will  take  care  of  the 
weeds  in  certain  fields.  The  cost  of  maintaining  cleanliness  de- 
pends altogether  on  how  thoroughly  the  work  is  done.  If  done 
properly  both  work  and  cost  will  decrease  rapidly  from  year  to 
year. 

14.  STUDY  THE  WEEDS. — No  person  can  successfully  fight  weeds 
or  anything  else  Avithout  knowing  the  nature  of  that  which  he  is 
lighting.     Strive  to  learn  thoroughly  their  methods  of  growth  and 
ways  of  spreading.     After  these  are  known  any  weed  on  a  farm 
can  be  controlled  if  fought  constantly  and  in  the  proper  manner. 
Remember  that  the  weed  itself  has  many  problems  to  solve,  many 
enemies  to  avoid.    Before  it  can  have  fulfilled  its  mission  on  earth 
—that  of  producing  another  weed  like  itself — the  seed  whence  it 
sprung  must  have  escaped  the  attacks  of  birds,   mice  and  other 
enemies,   else  it   would  never  have  become  a  weed.      The   young 
shoot  must  have  escaped  the  hoe  or  scythe,  the  jaws  of  grub  or 
locust,  the  maw  or  hoof  of  cattle  or  horse.     The  flowers  must  have 
opened  and  secured  their  fertilization;  the  fruit  must  have  set  and 
ripened  the  seeds.    They  in  their  turn  must  have  been  scattered  far 
and  wide  to  proper  soil  and  place  of  growth.     If  the  weed  fails, 
no  matter  how  little,  in  any  one  of  these  things  it  is  lost.    Its  chance 
of  reproducing  its  kind  is  gone.     Take  advantage  of  some  one  of 
these  problems  which  the  weed  has  to  solve  and  prevent  its  solu- 
tion.    Know  the  weeds  first,  then  knock  them  out, 

15.  MAKE  BOTANY  A  COMMON  SCHOOL  STUDY. — The  chief  busi- 
ness of  the  farmer  is  to  raise  cultivated  plants,  with  the  leaves,  the 
seeds  or  the  roots  of  which  he  feeds  himself  and  the  world.     True 
he  feeds  part  of  them  to  animals  but — "all  flesh  is  grass."     The 
plant  must  ever  precede  the  animal  and  gather  from  the  soil  for 
the  latter  the  food  and  store  from  the  sun  for  it  the  energy  neces- 


28  THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 

* 

sary  to  its  existence.  Yes,  farmers  grow  plants,  but  how  many  of 
them  know  the  parts  of  a  flower,  the  duties  of  each  part?  How 
many  of  them  can  take  a  book  and  determine  for  themselves  the 
name  and  place  of  a  new  plant  which  has  appeared  on  their  farms 
and  so  know  whether  it  is  harmless  or-  aggressive?  Our  most 
noxious,  our  vilest  weeds  can  now  never  be  wholly  eradicated,  but 
can  only  be  subjugated  and  kept  in  partial  control.  They  are  here 
and  here  to  stay.  Had  the  farmers  of  the  past  known  their  real 
character  and  recognized  the  plants  on  their  first  appearance  they 
would  have  postponed  all  other  business  until  they  were  destroyed. 
As  it  is,  the  farmers  of  the  future  must  wage  an  eternal  warfare 
against  them,  for  they  have  secured  a  foothold  which  cannot  be 
entirely  overcome.  True,  a  new  species  possessing  characters  which 
will  enable  it  to  crowd  them  out  may,  in  time,  appear,  but  such  a 
change  would  very  likely  be  for  the  worst. 

There  was  a  time  when  but  one,  two  or  a  dozen  plants  of  each 
of  these  foreign  weeds  existed  in  the  State.  Then  was  the  time  to 
have  successfully  quarantined  that  species  by  destroying  those 
pioneers.  The  few  persons  on  whose  land  they  appeared  neglected 
them,  and  every  gardener,  every  farmer,  yea,  every  land  owner  in 
the  State  most  henceforth,  now  and  forever,  pay  the  penalty  for 
that  neglect  by  continued  hoeing,  plowing  and  mowing  to  keep  these 
alien  weeds  in  subjugation.  As  long  as  the  rudiments  of  botany 
are  not  taught  in  the  common  schools  the  average  farmer  will  be 
unable  to  tell  whether  a  new  plant  which  has  made  its  appearance 
upon  his  land  should  be  allowed  to  grow  or  not;  in  fact,  in  many 
instances  he  will  not  know  that  a  new  plant  is  there  until  it  be- 
comes too  abundant  to  be  easily  overcome.  Put  a  high  school  into 
each  township  in  the  State;  teach  the  elements  of  botany  therein 
and  then,  and  not  till  then,  may  we  hope  that  the  farmers  of  the 
future  will  be  on  the  lookout  for  all  new  plants;  will  be  able  at 
once  to  judge  their  relative  injuriousness,  and  will  destroy,  before 
they  have  time  to  ripen  their  seeds,  those  species  which,  if  allowed 
to  spread,  will  become  a  curse  to  the  State. 

MEDICINAL  PROPERTIES  OF  WEEDS. 

A  number  of  our  most  noxious  weeds  possess  valuable  medicinal 
properties  and  have  been  used  for  centuries  in  the  manufacture  of 
drugs.  Although  the  weeds  so  used  were  most  of  them  introduced 
from  Europe  and  the  American  farmer  has  had  to  fight  some  of 
them  for  nearly  four  hundred  years,  he  has  not  been  thrifty 
enough  to  gather  them  for  the  drug  trade.  In  Europe,  where 


SOME   WEEDS    USED   IN    MEDICINE.  20 

everything  that  can  be  turned  into  an  honest  penny  is  put  to  ac- 
count, these  weeds  are  gathered  in  large  quantities  and  to  the  value 
of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars,  are  shipped  to  America  each 
year.  Here  the  same  weeds  are  allowed  to  encumber  the  farm  and 
impoverish  the  farmer,  whereas  they  might  be  made  sources  of 
profit. 

Among  the  more  common  weeds  growing  in  Indiana  which,  for 
drug  purposes  have  a  value  sufficient  to  justify  their  gathering  are 
the  couch-grass,  curled  and  broad-leaved  docks,  black  mustard, 
pokeweed,  wormseed,  poison  hemlock,  pleurisy  root,  silkweed,  In- 
dian tobacco,  catnip,  mullen,  two  kinds  of  jimson-weeds.  dande- 
lion, bonesct,  white  snakeroot,  horse-weed  or  fleabane,  elecampane, 
tansy,  burdock  and  yarrow.  Many  a  dollar  can  be  earned  by  farm 
boys  and  girls  in  gathering  and  properly  preparing  the  parts  of 
these  weeds  used  in  medicine.  Markets  for  them  will  be  found  at 
Madison,  Terre  Haute,  Evansville,  Fort  Wayne,  Indianapolis  and 
other  cities  where  buyers  of  roots  and  herbs  are  in  business.  Sulzer 
Bros.,  of  Madison,  who  are  the  largest  dealers  in  roots  and  herbs 
in  the  State,  bought  in  1911,  114,000  pounds  of  the  medicinal  parts 
of  the  above  weeds,  paying  therefor  about  $3,600.  The  price  paid 
for  them  is  not  large  but  the  collecting  can  mostly  be  done  in  late 
summer  at  a  time  when  farm  work  is  not  pressing.  The  small  in- 
come thus  derived  will  be  so  much  gained  while  the  farm  is  at  the 
same  time  being  cleared  of  the  weeds.  Under  the  name  of  the 
weed,  in  the  list  which  follows,  the  part  used  of  each  of  those  above 
mentioned  is  given  in  proper  order,  and  brief  directions  are  also 
given  for  its  collecting  and  curing.  In  general  it  may  be  said  that 
whatever  the  parts  gathered,  they  should  be  thoroughly  dried  in 
the  shade  on  clean  floors,  racks  or  shelves,  being  spread  out  thinly 
and  turned  frequently.  If  dried  out  of  doors  they  should  be  pro- 
tected from  dew  at  night  and  at  all  times  from  rain.  Roots  should 
be  throughly  cleaned,  washed  and,  if  too  large,  sliced.  Much  care 
should  be  taken  to  have  all  parts  free  from  foreign  matter,  espe- 
cially earth  and  fragments  of  other  plants,  and  the  leaves  and 
stems,  when  dry,  should  retain  their  bright  gre?n  color. 

When  ready  for  sale  the  name  of  the  nearest  dealer  should  be 
obtained  and  a  few  ounces  of  each  part,  properly  labeled,  sent  him 
as  a  sample.  State  the  amount  on  hand  and  how  soon  it  can  be 
supplied.  In  shipping,  the  crude  drugs  should  be  tightly  packed 
in  clean  dry  barrels  or  gunny  sacks,  and  plainly  marked  or  tagged, 
both  with  the  name  of  the  sender  and  the  person  to  whom  they  are 
consigned. 


30  THE  INDIANA  WEED  BOOK. 

N-VMES  OF  WEEDS. 

The  lirst  thing  that  a  farmer  or  other  person  asks  about  any 
weed  which  attracts  his  attention  is,  "What  is  its  name?"  or 
' '  What  kind  of  a  weed  is  it  ? "  Tn  other  words  he  wants  some 
handle  to  carry  it  with  and  if  no  one  can  give  him  one  he  makes  it 
for  himself.  Hence  there  are  many  common  names  for  the  same 
weed,  sometimes  half  a  dozen  or  more  in  the  same  community. 
This  is  unfortunate,  for  one  of  the  most  important  things  in  the 
warfare  against  weeds  is  to  know  a  weed  when  it  is  seen  and  call 
it  by  its  true  name,  that  is,  the  one  by  which  it  is  most  widely 
known.  In  the  list  of  150  Indiana  weeds  each  one  has  several  of 
these  common  names  given  after  the  scientific  name,  the  one  in 
most  general  use  being  first  mentioned. 

Each  weed  is  known  to  botanists  by  one  and  the  same  scientific 
name  and  it  would  be  well  For  the  farmer  to  learn  these  and  then 
there  would  be  no  mistake  about  the  weed  he  has  in  mind,  provided 
he  has  it  correctly  identified.  Each  scientific  name  is  made  up  of 
two  Latin  words,  the  first  one,  always  begun  with  a  capital  letter, 
corresponding  to  the  surname  of  a  man  and  the  second  one,  be- 
ginning with  a  small  letter,  to  his  given  name.  Thus  the  scientific 
name  of  the  common  yellow  or  curled  dock  is  Rumcx  crisp  us  L.  in 
which  the  second  name,  cmp«y,  corresponds  to  the  given  name,  as 
"John"  or  "'Charles,"  and  the  first,  Rnmex,  to  the  sur-  or  family 
name,  as  "Smith"  or  "Jones."  The  scientific  name  is  therefore 
of  the  same  nature  as  that  given  a  man  but  is  in  Latin  and  is  writ- 
ten backward,  as  Smith  John.  There  may  be  any  number  of  kinds 
of  Rumcx  or  docks,  but  there  can  only  be  one  of  them  named 
crispus,  just  as  in  the  same  family  we  find  but  one  John.  The  sur- 
name of  the  man  who  first  describes  a  plant  or  weed  and  gives  it  a 
Latin  name  is  always  associated  with  it.  Thus  the  L.  after  the 
name  Rumcx  crispus  L.  is  the  abbreviation  for  Linnreus  who  was 
the  first  botanist  to  give  scientific  names  to  plants  and  who  gavo 
the  Latin  names  to  the  most  of  our  worst  weeds. 

The  first  part  of  a  scientific  name,  as  Rumex,  is  called  the  gen- 
eric name,  a  genus  being  a  group  of  kinds  or  species  of  plants  which 
are  alike  in  a  number  of  characters.  In  this  case  it  includes  all 
true  docks.  The  second  name,  crispus,  is  the  specific  name  and 
always  refers  to  the  one  kind  of  dock  which,  wherever  it  is  found, 
has  certain  characters  distinguishing  it  from  all  other  kinds  of 
Rumex.  When  one  has  learned  to  know  well  any  one  individual 
plant  of  a  certain  weed  he  is  therefore  also  acquainted  with  all 


TIIK    ROOTS    OF    WEEDS.  H 

other  individuals  of  the  same  species.  The  generic  and  specific 
names  given  to  a  plant  or  animal  usually  have  some  well  defined 
meaning,  Eumcx  in  the  case  mentioned  meaning  "a  spear."  from 
the  shape1  of  the  leaves  of  the  little  sour  dock  or  field  sorrel,  while 
crispu?  refers  to  the  curled  or  wavy  margins  of  the  leaves  of  the 
curled  dock  which  bears  the  name. 


PARTS  OP  A  WEED. 

In  order  that  the  farmer  or  other  person  may  he  able  to  distin- 
guish from  the  descriptions  given  any  one  of  the  150  weeds  listed 
it  will  be  necessary  for  him  to  know  the  names,  structure  and  uses 
of  a  few  of  the  principal  and  more  prominent  parts  of  a  weed.  As 
all  of  our  weeds  are  constructed  on  the  same  general  plan  the  parts 
of  one  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  others  with  only  certain  differences 
in  some  particulars.  Let  us  take,  therefore,  the  corn  cockle  which 
is  a  common  weed  in  wheat  fields  and  examine  carefully  its  differ- 
ent organs  and  the  uses  to  which  they  are  put. 

If  an  entire  specimen  of  corn  cockle  be  pulled  up  after  it  has 
been  in  blossom  for  some  time  it  will  be  seen  to  have  five  general 
parts  or  divisions  Avhich  are  well  known  to  all  farmers,  These  are 
roots,  stem,  leaves,  flowers  and  fruit  or  "seed  pods,"  and  they  will 
be  considered  in  the  order  mentioned. 

THE  ROOTS  OF  WEEDS. — Roots  of  weeds  vary  greatly  in  form, 
size,  length  of  life,  etc.  They  grow  downward  or  spread  out  below 
the  surface  thus  avoiding  the  light.  Their  chief  duties  are  to  sup- 
port the  plant  in  position  and  to  gather  for  it  moisture  and  food 
from  the  soil.  As  already  noted,  the  roots  of  annual  plants  like  the 
cockle  live  for  but  a  single  year.  They  are  for  the  most  part  fibrous 
and  spreading,  and  annual  weeds  can  usually  be  easily  pulled  by 
hand.  The  roots  of  both  annuals  and  perennials  are  usually  greatly 
divided  in  order  to  secure  a  firm  hold  upon  the  earth  and  to  have 
as  large  an  absorbing  surface  as  possible  in  contact  with  the  soil. 
In  most  weeds  all  the  nourishment,  except  carbonic  acid  gas,  comes 
from  the  soil  and  must  be  in  liquid  form  before  it  can  be  taken  up 
by  the  little  hairs  which  are  found  in  numbers  upon  the  smaller 
divisions  of  the  roots.  The  plant  foods  such  as  potash,  phosphorus, 
nitrates,  silica,  etc.,  before  they  can  be  absorbed  by  these  root 
hairs  must  therefore  be  dissolved  in  the  moisture  of  the  soil,  just 
as  we  dissolve  crystals  of  sugar  or  salt  in  water.  Some  roots,  as 
those  of  clover  and  most  plants  of  the  pea  family,  produce  small 


32 


THE    TNDIAXA    WEED    BOOK. 


Fig.  7.    Fibrous  roots  of  red  clover  showing  the 
nitrogen  storing  nodules.     (After  Piper.) 


nodules  caused  by  bacteria, 
(Fig.  7.)  These  bacteria  have 
the  power  to  fix  the  free  nitro- 
gen of  the  air  and  develop  ni- 
trogen salts.  The  clover  plant 
uses  part  of  these  nitrogen 
salts  as  food  and  leaves  some 
of  them  in  the  ground.  Weeds 
of  the  pea  family  are  thus  to 
some  degree  beneficial  in  that 
they  help  enrich  the  soil. 

The  roots  of  most  biennial 
weeds,  as  well  as  those  of  some 
perennials,  are  often  thick  or 
fleshy,  being  composed  largely 
of  starch  which  has  been  stored 
to  be  used  in  giving  the  flower 
stems  of  the  second  or  succeed- 
ing year  nourishment  for  a 
quick  growth  in  spring.  Such 

weeds  often  have  one  large  central  tap-root  extending  straight 
downward,  with  a  few  siualler  roots  branching  from  its  sides.  The 
roots  of  a  weed  extend  downward  or  outward  in  search  of  a  suf- 
ficient supply  of  moisture;  if  this  be  lacking  the  weed,  like  all  other 
plants,  ceases  growth,  shrivels  and  in  time  dies. 

THE  STEMS  OF  WEEDS. — The  stem  is  the  main  axis  of  the  plant 
and  is  supposed  to  bear  the  roots  below  ground  and  the  leaves  and 
flowers  above.  Most  stems  of  weeds  are  more  or  less  branched, 
some  of  them  very  much  so;  if  not  at  all  branched  they  are  called 
simple.  If  the  stem  dies  down  to  the  ground  each  year  the  plant 
is  called  an  herb,  or  it'  it  twines,  an  herbaceous  vine.  Almost  all 
weeds  are  herbs.  Stems  with  a  woody  texture  which  survive  the 
winter  above  ground  are  woody  vines,  shrubs  or  trees.  One  shrub 
and  two  woody  vines  are  included  in  the  list  of  Indiana  weeds,  viz., 
the  blackberry,  poison  ivy  and  trumpet-creeper,  while  the  common 
elder  might  with  propriety  also  have  been  included. 

In  structure  stems  of  weeds  and  other  flowering  plants  are  di- 
vided into  two  great  classes.  Tn  one  class,  called  cndogens,  or  in- 
side growers,  the  woody  or  vascular  tissue  is  usually  scattered  in 
bundles  through  the  stem,  and  there  is  no  visible  distinction  of 
bark,  wood,  etc.  By  cutting  across  the  stem  of  a  dry  cornstalk  one 
can  readily  find  these  bundles  running  like  fibres  lengthwise 


THE   LEAVES   OE   WEEDS.  33 

through  the  pith.  Only  a  few  of  our  weeds  belonging  to  the  grass, 
sedge,  lily  and  rush  families  have  steins  of  this  kind.  In  the  other 
class  called  c.r<>cj<  nx,  or  outside  growers,  the  stein  is  composed  of 
distinct  layers  which  surround  one  another  in  circles,  and  are 
usually  known  as  bark,  wood  and  pith.  All  our  weeds  except  those 
of  the  four  families  above  mentioned  belong  to  this  class. 

The  direction  of  growth  of  the  stem  is  an  important  distinguish- 
ing character  of  weeds.  If,  like  the  com  cockle,  it  stands  upright 
it  is  said  to  be  erect ;  if  arising  obliquely  from  a  prostrate  base  it 
is  called  ascending.  Stems  which  grow  along  the  ground  without 
rooting  are  prostrate  (purslane)  or  trailing  (ground  ivy).  The 
stems  of  some  weeds,  as  the  plantain  and  dandelion,  are  very  short, 
the  leafless  flower-stalk  springing  from  the  midst  of  a  clump  of 
basal  or  so-called  root-leaves.  Such  a  flower-stalk  is  called  a  scape. 

Some  perennial  weeds  produce  both  ordinary  erect  and  creep- 
ing underground  stems,  the  latter  being  called  root  stocks  or 
rhizomes.  They  may  be  known  from  true  roots  by  their  bearing 
buds  at  short  intervals.  When  the  conditions  are  favorable  these 
buds  produce  erect  above-ground  stems.  Such  perennials  are  the 
most  difficult  of  all  weeds  to  eradicate.  The  sterns  of  some  weeds, 
as  the  cinquefoil,  produce  above  ground  and  near  the  base  runners 
or  offsets  which  take  root  and  form  new  plants. 

THE  LEAVES  OF  WEEDS. — Leaves  are  among  the  most  important 
parts  of  a  weed,  as  it  is  in  their  cells  that  all  the  food  of  the  plant 
is  assimilated  or  fitted  for  growth  and  for  forming  the  flowers  and 
seeds.  It  is  the  leaf  also  which  has  the  sole  power  of  absorbing 
carbonic  acid  gas  from  the  air  and  by  the  aid  of  the  sun's  heat 
and  light,  in  the  presence  of  the  green  coloring  matter  (chloro- 
phyll), changing  it  into  starch,  this  being  used  in  forming  other 
tissues  such  as  wood  or  seeds  or  tubers.  In  these  tissues  the  energy 
from  the  sun's  heat  and  light  is  stored  and  when  the  tissues  are 
burned  or  used  as  food  by  animals  the  energy  is  set  free  and  can  be 
controlled  by  man.  Most  of  the  energy  used  by  man  and  animals 
in  performing  the  work  of  the  world  was  at  one  time  thus  gathered 
by  leaves  and  stored  in  the  roots  or  stems  or  fruits  of  plants. 
Leaves  are  the  principal  organs  of  respiration  or  breathing  which 
the  weed  possesses.  It  is  through  them  also  that  the  excess  of  water 
gathered  by  the  roots  passes  off.  Constituting  as  they  thus  do  the 
organs  of  digestion,  breathing  and  transpiration  or  sweating,  it  is 
very  plain  that  if  one  can  prevent  a  weed  from  producing  leaves  it 
will  soon  die. 

The  broad  expanded  part  of  a  leaf  is  called  the  Made  and  the 

[3] 


34 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


narrower  portion  by  which  it  is  joined  to  the  stem  or  branch  is  the 
stalk  or  petiole.  Leaves  which  have  no  stalks,  the  blades  being 
joined  by  one  end  directly  to  the  stein,  are  sessile.  In  position  on 
the  stem  they  are  opposite  or  in  pairs  as  in  the  corn  cockle ;  alter- 
nate or  scattered  singly  along  the  stem,  one  above  another  on  op- 
posite sides,  as  in  the  mullen.  or  whorled  if  three  or  more  come  off 
in  a  circle  at  the  same  level. 

In  shape  the  leaves  of  weeds  vary  greatly,  some  of  the  forms 
being  ovate  or  egg-shaped;  lanceolate,  narrower  and  more  elongate 
than  ovate  and  tapering  to  a  point  like  a  lance;  cordate  or  heart- 
shaped;  reniform  or  kidney-shaped,  that  is  heart-shaped  at  base 
but  broader  than  long  and  not  pointed;  hastate  or  halberd-shaped. 


H 


Fig.  8.  Showing  forms  of  leaves:  a,  ovate;  b,  cordate  or  heart-shaped;  c,  sagittate  or  arrow-shaped' 
d,  hastate;  e,  reniform  or  kidney-shaped;  /.rounded  or  orbicular;  g.  spatulate  or  spoon-shaped;  h,  oblong  and 
obtuse;  i,  linear;  ;',  lanceolate;  k,  3-parted  or  3-divided;  /,  with  apex  notched  or  emarginate.  (After  Gray.) 

with  the  lobes  at  base  pointed  outward ;  oblong  or  narrowly  ovate 
and  usually  dull  at  tip:  spatulate  or  spoon-shaped,  that  is  broader 
toward  the  apex;  orbicular  or  rounded,  and  linear  or  long  and  nar- 
row as  those  of  the  com  cockle.  The  linear  leaves  of  endogens  like 
grasses,  sedges  and  lilies  have  only  long  straight  parallel  veins, 
while  those  of  exogens  have  netted  veins  which  interlace  and  run 
together  so  as  to  form  a  network.  (Fig.  15  I),  d.} 

The  edge  or  border  of  the  leaf  is  either  entire  or  variously 
toothed,  lobed  or  deeply  parted.  When  the  lobes  are  divided  clear 
to  the  midrib  or  the  main  vein  at  center,  the  leaf  is  said  to  be 
compound,  otherwise  it  is  simple.  Each  of  the  leaflets  or  divisions 
of  a  compound  leaf  may  be  divided  into  segments  and  these  again 


THE    FLOWERS    OF  WEEDS. 


35 


subdivided,  as  in  the  dissected  leaves  of  yarrow,  dog-fennel,  etc. 
The  tip  of  a  leaf  may  be  acute  or  pointed,  acuminate  or  longer 
pointed,  obtuse  or  dull,  emarginate  or  notched,  etc.  Both  leaves 
and  stems  may  be  clothed  with  hairs,  as  in  the  corn  cockle,  or 
glabrous,  without  hairs.  The  hairs,  when  present,  differ  greatly  in 
length,  stiffness,  abundance,  etc.,  in  the  various  weeds. 

The  leaves  of  many  weeds  bear  on  the  stalk  near  the  base  a 
pair  of  leaf-like  expansions  called  stipules  (Fig.  15,  r/),  which  are 
usually  green  but  often  colorless.  The  margins  of  sessile  leaves 
may  sometimes  extend  down  along  the  stem  as  in  mullen.  Such 
leaves  are  said  to  be  decurrent  and  the  stem  winged.  Bracts,  scales, 
glumes,  etc..  are  only  leaves  reduced  in  size  which  are  mainly  used 
to  protect  the  flowers.  The  seed  leaves  or  cotyledons;  are  small 


Fig.  9.  Illustrating  the  parts  of  a  flower:  a,  flower  of  poppy  showing  the  4  sets  cf  flora!  organs,  viz.,  k,  the 
srpals,  together  called  the  calyx;  c,  the  petals,  together  called  the  corolla;  a,  the  numerous  stamens;  g,  the  2  pis- 
i'i  s  which  contain  the  ovjles.  6,  Flower  of  cinquefoil  showing  3  broad  sepals,  2  smaller  petals  alternating  with 
th?m,  a  gro.ip  of  stamens,  and  a  large  receptacle  bearing  numerous  small  pistils,  c,  Butterfly-shaped  flower  of 
sweet  pea;  d,  same  spread  to  show  the  part?;  s,  the  standard,  w,  the  wings,  k,  the  keel.  (After  Strasburger  and 
Gray.) 

leaves  which  exist  in  all  seeds.  In  some  plants,  as  the  squash  and 
beech-nut,  they  arise  above  the  ground  when  the  seed  sprouts. 
Endogens  have  but  one  seed  leaf  while  all  exogens  have  two. 

THE  FLOWERS  OF  A  WEED. — The  flower  is  that  part  of  a  plant 
whose  chief  duty  it  is  to  produce  seeds  or  the  young  of  future 
plants.  A  complete  flower  consists  of  the  floral  envelope,  (Fig.  9, 
a;,  or  calyx  and  corolla,  and  the  essential  or  sexual  organs,  the 
stamens  and  pistils.  Tf  any  one  of  these  four  divisions  of  a  flower 
is  absent  it  is  said  to  be  incomplete.  The  calyx  or  outer  floral  en- 
velope is  composed  of  several  modified  leaves  called  sepals  which 
are  usually  green  in  color,  and  arranged  in  a  circle  so  as  to  cover 
and  protect  all  the  other  parts  of  the  flower  when  in  bud.  In  the 
corn  cockle  the  lower  parts  of  all  5  sepals  have  their  edges  united 
so  as  to  form  a  tube,  while  the  upper  part  of  each  sepal  is  separate. 


36 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


elongated  and  pointed.  In  the  calyx  of  many  weeds  the  sepals 
are  wholly  separate  and  distinct  one  from  another.  In  the  different 
weeds  they  also  vary  greatly  in  shape,  size  and  degree  of  union,  so 
that  the  calyx  may  be  shaped  like  a  cup,  bell,  saucer,  urn,  tube  and 
many  other  objects.  In  some  weeds  the  calyx  is  colored  like  the 
corolla  while  in  some  it  is  wholly  lacking.  However,  if  but  one 
set  of  floral  envelopes  is  present  it  is  the  calyx,  whatever  its  color, 
and  the  flower  is  said  to  be  apetalous;  while  if  both  calyx  and 
corolla  are  absent  the  flower  is  naked. 

The  inner  floral  envelope  when  present  is  called  the  corolla. 
It  is  also  made  up  of  several  leaf-like  parts  arranged  in  a  whorl 
or  circle  and  called  petals.  The  petals  are  usually  brightly  colored 
and  larger  than  the  sepals.  They  also  vary  greatly  in  the  different 
weeds  in  number,  form,  size,  color  and  degree  of  union  one  with 


Fig.  10.  Illustrating  forms  of  corollas:  a,  polypetalous  flower  of  bouncing  bet  showing  the  5  petals  with  long 
claws  or  stalk-like  bases;  b,  gamopetalous  bell-shaped  corolla  of  bell-flower;  c,  salver-shaped  corolla  of  phlox; 
d.  wheel-shaped  corolla  of  nightshade;  e,  same  of  potato,  the  lobes  less  divided;  /,  funnel-form  corolla  of  morning- 
glory;  g,  strap-shaped  corolla  of  a  Composite.  (After  Gray.) 

another.  In  the  corn  cockle  the  petals  are  5,  purple-red,  separate, 
broader  and  slightly  notched  above  and  narrowed  into  wedge-like 
claws  below.  When  the  petals  are  wholly  distinct  one  from  another 
the  corolla  is  said  to  be  polypetalous;  when  more  or  less  united, 
gamopetalous.  If  the  petals  arc  all  alike,  as  in  the  cockle,  the 
corolla  is  regular;  if  one  or  more  of  them  differ  in  size  or  shape 
as  they  do  in  many  weeds,  especially  those  of  the  pea  and  mint 
families,  the  corolla  is  irregular. 

The  form  of  the  corolla  varies  much  and,  like  that  of  the  calyx, 
is  often  described  as  being  bell-,  funnel-,  wheel-,  tube-,  or  other- 
wise shaped.  In  the  weeds  of  the  bell-flower,  mint  and  figwort 
families  the  corolla  is  more  or  less  two-Upped,  the  petals  being  so 
united  that  two  of  them  form  an  upper  or  overhanging  portion, 
while  the  other  three  form  the  lower  lip.  In  the  dandelion,  ox-eye 
daisy,  dog-fennel  and  other  weeds  of  the  Chicory  and  Composite 


STAMENS    AND    THEIR   WORK. 


37 


families  some  or  all  of  the  small  tubular  corollas  appear  as  if 
split  part  way  down  on  one  side  and  then  flattened.  Such  a  corolla 
is  said  to  be  ligulate  or  strap-shaped,  the  split  portion  being  called 
a  ray. 

The  corolla  is  often  wrongly  called  the  "flower."  This  is  be- 
cause it  is  usually  the  showy  or  attractive  part  to  humans.  How- 
ever, it  was  not  made  handsome  to  attract  man  but  insects,  so  as 
to  bring  about  a  better  pollination  or  cross  fertilization  of  the  es- 
sential organs.  It  also  serves  to  sonic  extent  to  protect  those  or- 
gans in  the  bud.  In  endogens  the  sepals  and  petals  are,  when  pres- 
ent, 3  each  in  number  and  often  colored  alike  to  form  what  is 
known  as  the  perianth. 

The  duty  of  the  stamens,  or  outer  set  of  essential  organs  of  a 


Fig.  11.  Ilhstrating  stamens  and  pollen  grains:  a,  stamen  of  henbane,  /,  filament,  p,  anther;  b,  flower  of 
mallow  with  calyx  and  corolla  cut  away,  showing  the  monodelphous  stamens  united  in  a  column  around  the  styles; 
c,  stamens  of  pea  in  two  groups  (diadelphous)  9  and  1;  d,  stamen  with  versatile  anther  as  in  grasses  and  evening- 
primrose;  e,  stamen  of  horss  nettle,  the  pollen  escaping  by  terminal  pores;  /,  stamens  of  a  Composite  showing 
the  anthers  united  in  a  tube:  g,  s^me  with  tube  split  and  spread  out;  h,  a  3-lobed  pollen  grain  of  evening-prim- 
rose; i,  a  pair  of  pollen  masses  of  a  milkweed  flower  attached  by  stalks  to  a  gland.  (After  Gray.) 

flower  when  both  are  present,  is  to  produce  pollen  grains  or  spores. 
These  grains  are  the  male  or  fertilizing  agents  of  the  flower.  A 
stamen  usually  consists  of  a  stalk  or  filament  and  an  anther,  the 
latter  being  made  up  of  2  sacs  or  cells  in  which  the  pollen  is 
formed  and  held  until  it  is  ready  for  use.  When  the  pollen  is  ripe 
the  sacs  open  by  slits  or  pores  and  the  pollen  is  scattered  by  the 
wind,  insects  or  other  agencies.  The  stamens  vary  greatly  in  num- 
ber, length  of  filament,  form  of  anther,  degree  of  union  one  with 
another,  and  mode  of  insertion  or  connection  with  other  parts  of 
the  flower.  All  of  the  filaments  may  be  joined  together  as  is  the 
case  in  the  velvet  leaf  and  other  weeds  of  the  mallow  family,  or 
they  may  be  united  in  sets  as  in  the  St.  Johnswort  and  many  plants 
of  the  pea  family.  In  the  weeds  of  the  Composite  family  the  an- 
thers are  united  to  form  a  ring  about  the  style. 


38 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


In  a  number  of  weeds,  as  the  common  ragweed  and  field  sorrel, 
the  stamens  and  pistils  are  borne  in  separate  flowers.  Those  flow- 
ers with  stamens  only  are  called  staminate  or  sterile  flowers, 
whether  the  calyx  or  corolla  be  present  or  not,  while  those  with 
pistils  only  are  pistillate  or  fertile  flowers.  In  the  ragAveed  these 
two  kinds  of  flowers  are  borne  on  the  same  plant  and  when  so 
borne  the  plant  is  said  to  be  monoecious  (of  one  household).  In 
the  field  sorrel  they  are  on  separate  plants  and  in  this  and  similar 
cases  the  weed  is  called  dioecious  (of  two  households).  If  both  sta- 
mens and  pistils  are  absent,  as  in  the  ray  flowers  of  some  Com- 
posite weeds,  the  flowers  are  neutral.  In  the  corn  cockle  the  sta- 
mens are  10  in  number,  separate,  and  borne  on  the  stalk  of  the 


Fig.  12.  Showing  forms  of  pistils  and  ovaries:  a,  b  and  c,  simple  pistils;  a,  pistil  of  a  single  leaf,  the  ovary 
cut  across  with  the  ovules  borne  on  the  centra)  suture;  b,  pistil  of  marsh  marigold  which  has  opened  and  shed  its 
seeds;  c,  3  simple  pistils  of  one  flower;  d-i,  compound  pistils;  d,  of  common  St.  Johnswort,  showing  the  three 
separate  styles  and  3  cells  of  ovary;  e,  of  shrubby  St.  Johnswort,  showing  the  styles  united,  but  the  cells  the 
same;  /,  of  spiderwort  showing  the  3  cells  each  with  a  s;ngle  ovule;  g  and  h,  of  chickweed  showing  3  styles,  1  cell 
and  ovules  on  a  central  column;  t,  a  pistil  showing  the  ovary,  /,  the  style,  g,  and  the  stigma,  n.  (After  Gray.) 

ovary,  and  the  anthers  open  by  lengthwise  valves  to  discharge  the 
pollen. 

The  pistils,  or  female  parts  of  the  flower,  which  produce  the 
young  or  unfertilized  seeds  called  ovules,  form  the  innermost  set 
of  the  essential  organs.  In  number  the  pistils  vary  greatly  ac- 
cording to  the  species  of  plant.  The  flowers  of  some  plants,  as  those 
of  the  pea  or  clover,  have  a  single  simple  pistil,  while  a  buttercup 
has  many.  Such  simple  pistils  consist  of  a  single  modified  leaf,  the 
carpel,  folded  together  and  containing  one  or  many  ovules.  A 
compound  pistil,  as  that  of  the  corn  cockle,  consists  of  two  or  more 
carpels  joined  together.  Each  pistil  is  made  up  of  two  or  tliree 
parts.  The  two  parts  always  present  are  the  ovary  or  enlarged 
part  at  base  which  contains  the  ovules,  and  the  stigma  which  IF 


DISTILS    AND    THEIR    PARTS.  39 

Viscid  or  sticky  so  as  to  catch  the  pollen  grains.  Sometimes  the 
stigma  is  borne  directly  on  the  ovary  but  more  often  it  is  at  the  top 
or  oil  the  side  of  a  slender  stalk  called  the  style,  which  is  an  elonga- 
tion of  the  upper  part  of  the  ovary,  in  corn  the  styles  are  very 
long  and  form  the  so-called  "silk." 

The  ovary  of  a  simple  pistil  when  removed  and  cut  crosswise  is 
seen  to  have  but  a  single  cell  or  cavity  to  contain  the  ovules,  while 
that  of  a  compound  pistil  may  have  a  number  of  cells,  their  par- 
tition walls  being  formed  by  the  carpels  which  compose  the  ovary. 
The  number  of  these  carpels  can  usually  be  told  by  the  number  of 
styles  or  stigmas  present.  In  the  corn  cockle  there  is  one  com- 
pound pistil  with  5  styles,  a  stigma  being  attached  along  the  in- 
side of  each,  so  that  5  carpels  were  united  to  form  the  pistil. 
When  cut  crosswise  the  ovary  is  seen  to  be  only  1-celled,  the  car- 
pels not  having  formed  complete  partitions  or  walls  though  traces 
of  such  walls  are  seen  at  the  base.  The  ovules  are  many  and  are 
joined  to  a  central  column  which  extends  from  the  bottom  to  near 
the  top  of  the  ovary.  The  ovules  of  different  weeds  are  arranged 
in  the  cells  in  different  ways,  sometimes  being  joined  to  one  or 
more  seams  (placentae)  on  the  sides  of  the  cell  and  sometimes  at- 
tached to  a  central  column  as  in  the  cockle.  If  single  they  may 
be  attached  at  base  to  the  bottom  of  the  cell. 

The  number  of  cells  in  the  ovary  is  used  as  a  very  important 
character  in  distinguishing  the  families  of  plants  and  can  usually 
be  readily  determined  by  carefully  removing  the  ovary,  cutting  it 
crosswise  with  a  sharp  knife  and  then  gently  squeezing  the  ovules 
from  one  of  the  halves.  By  looking  closely  with  a  lens  the  number 
of  small  cavities  can  then  be  easily  counted.  (Fig.  12,  d,  e,  /.)  It 
is  also  important  to  know  whether  the  ovary  is  in  any  way  united 
to  the  calyx  or  not.  In  the  corn  cockle  the  two  are  wholly  sepa- 
rate, the  ovary  being  above  the  calyx,  and  when  so  placed  it  is 
said  to  be  superior  or  free.  In  the  evening  primrose  and  many 
other  weeds  the  calyx  is  partly  or  wholly  united  to  the  ovary  and 
the  latter  is  then  said  to  be  inferior. 

Within  each  ovule  is  a  little  embryo  sac  containing  a  minute 
egg  or  germ.  When  a  pollen  grain  falls  on  the  sticky  stigma  it 
develops  or  sends  out  a  very  slender  tube  containing  numerous 
microscopic  sperm  or  male  cells.  This  finds  its  way  down  through 
the  tube  of  the  style  and  entering  the  ovule  through  a  minute  open- 
ing empties  the  sperm  cells  into  the  embryo  sac.  One  of  the  sperm 
cells  unites  with  the  egg  and  the  fertilization  of  the  latter  re- 
sults. From  the  fertilized  egg  the  young  or  embryo  plant  is  pro- 


INDIANA    \Vl2ED 


40 


duced  within  the  ovule.  The  coats  of  the  latter  thicken  and  en- 
large and  in  time  form  the  ripened  seed  which  with  the  future 
weed  enclosed  is  ready  to  be  borne  to  some  new  spot  where  it  may 
sprout  and  begin  for  itself  the  battle  of  life. 

The  manner  of  inflorescence,  or  arrangement  of  the  flowers  on 
the  stem,  is  often  an  important  distinguishing  character  of  weeds. 
Flowers  are  either  solitary  or  clustered.  Solitary  flowers  are  either 
borne  in  the  axil  or  angle  which  the  leaf  makes  where  it  joins  the 
stem,  when  they  are  said  to  be  axillary  and  solitary,  as  in  the  money- 
wort; or  are  borne  on  the  ends  of  the  stems  or  branches,  when  they 
are  terminal.  In  the  corn  cockle  the  flowers  are  solitary  on  the 
ends  of  long  axillary  peduncles  or  flower-stalks.  If  the  flower  is 


Fig.  13.    Showing  forms  of  inflorescence:   a,  spike  of  plantain;   6,  head  of  Canada  thistle,  %  natural  size;   c,  a 
raceme;  d,  a  corymb;  e,  an  umbel;  f,  a  panicle;  g,  a  compound  umbel  with  umbellets.     (After  Gray.) 

without  a  peduncle  or  stalk  of  its  own  it  is  said  to  be  sessile.  The 
end  of  each  stem  or  peduncle  which  bears  the  flower  or  on  which 
the  different  parts  rest  is  the  receptacle. 

In  most  weeds  the  flowers  are  in  clusters  on  the  ends  of  the 
branches  or  stems,  rarely  in  the  axils,  as  in  tumble-weed.  In  form 
the  clusters  may  be:  a  head  where  numerous  sessile  flowers  are 
bunched  closely  together  on  a  common  receptacle,  as  in  the  thistle 
or  dandelion;  a  spike  in  which  the  flowers  are  also  sessile  but  ar- 
ranged around  the  sides  of  a  long  central  axis,  as  in  plantain  and 
mullen  ;  a  raceme  having  each  flower  on  its  own  stalk  and  arranged 
loosely  along  the  sides  of  a  common  stalk  or  central  axis,  as  in 
shepherd's  purse  and  moth  mullen;  a  coryml)  which  is  a  flat-topped 


THE   FRUITS   OF   WEEDS.  41 

raceme,  the  lower  peduncles  being  lengthened  to  raise  their  flowers 
or  heads  to  the  same  level  as  those  above,  as  in  yarrow;  a  cyme 
which  is  only  a  corymb  with  all  the  blossoms  from  terminal  buds, 
the  one  on  the  main  stem  opening  first,  followed  by  those  on  the 
side  shoots,  as  in  chick  weed  ;  an  umbel,  as  in  milkweed  and  wild 
onion,  where  all  the  flower-stalks  seem  to  arise  from  a  single  point 
like  the  ribs  of  an  urnbrella;  whence  the  name. 

Compound  flower  clusters  of  each  of  the  above  kinds  are  fre- 
quent, as  the  compound  umbel  of  the  wild  carrot  where  the  stalks 
of  the  first  or  lower  umbel  become  themselves  umbels  and  bear  um- 
hcllcls.  A  compound  raceme  which  branches  loosely  and  irregu- 
larly is  called  a  panicle  and  is  seen  in  oats  and  most  grasses.  A 
head,  umbel  or  other  flower  cluster  is  often  surrounded  by  a  whorl 
or  circle  of  bracts  or  small  leaves  called  an  involucre.  These  are 
present  in  the  thistle  and  other  Composite  as  well  as  in  sedges  and 
many  other  weeds. 

THE  FRUITS  OF  WEEDS. — In  botany  the  word  fruit  is  used  to 
designate  the  mature  or  ripened  ovary  or  seed  vessel  with  the  en- 
closed seeds,  whatever  its  nature  and  whether  it  is  edible  or  not. 
It  also  includes  any  appendages  of  the  flower  which  are  perma- 
nently attached  to  it,  such  as  the  calyx  of  an  apple  or  the  fleshy 
receptacle  at  the  center  of  a  blackberry.  The  fruits  of  weeds,  like 
those  of  other  plants,  are  therefore  exceedingly  variable  in  struc- 
ture and  form. 

In  general,  fruits  are  either  fleshy  or  dry.  Not  very  many 
weeds  have  fleshy  fruits.  However  the  drape  or  stone-fruit,  hav- 
ing the  outer  part  fleshy  and  the  inner  part  hard  and  stony  and 
enclosing  the  seed,  is  represented  in  the  blackberry,  where  the  little 
drupes  are  massed  together  around  the  fleshy  receptacle,  and  also 
in  the  fruit  of  the  poison  ivy.  The  ~bcrry  is  another  form  of  fleshy 
fruit  in  which  the  hard  coated  seeds  are  enclosed  in  and  directly 
surrounded  by  the  fleshy  pulp.  The  fruits  of  pokeweed,  horse 
nettle,  ground  cherry,  etc.,  are  therefore  true  berries.  When  eaten 
by  birds  and  other  animals  the  hard  seeds  of  both  drupes  and  ber- 
ries are  not  digested  but  are  passed  with  the  excrement  and  thus 
gain  wide  dispersal. 

Dry  fruits  are  of  two  kinds,  viz.,  the  indehiscent  which  do  not 
open  at  maturity  and  the  dehiscent  which  split  open,  usually  along 
regular  lines,  and  scatter  the  seeds.  Of  the  numerous  kinds  of 
indehiscent  fruits  but  throe  are  commonly  met  with  among  weeds. 
The  achene  is  a  small  dry-  one-seeded  indehiscent  fruit  often  so 
seed-like  in  appearance  that  it  is  taken  for  a  naked  seed.  However 


42 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


the  acbene  always  has  two  scars,  one  at  the  base  showing  where  it 
was  joined  to  the  flower-stalk,  and  the  other  at  the  top  where  the 
style  or  stigma  was  united  to  it,  whereas  the  seed  has  but  one  scar 
indicating  the  point  Avhere  it  was  joined  to  the  ovary.  The  ripened 
pistils  of  the  buttercups  and  the  so-called  seeds  of  the  dandelions, 
catnip  and  hound's  tongue  are  examples  of  achenes.  The  utricle 
is  an  achene  with  a  thin  loose  outer  covering,  as  seen  in  pigweed, 
lamb's  quarters,  etc.  The  caryopsis  or  grain  is  a  dry  indehiscent 
fruit  in  which  the  seed  is  firmly  united  with  the  wall  of  the  ovary, 
so  that  both  fruit  and  seed  form  one  body,  as  in  wheat,  corn  and 
the  weeds  of  the  grass  family. 

The  dry  dehiscent  fruits  are  also  numerous  in  kind.     Among 


Fi^.  14.  Illustrating  forms  of  fruits:  a,  single  drupe  of  blackberry  split  to  show  pulp,  stone  and  inner  seed; 
b,  a  berry:  c,  pyxis  of  purslane,  the  lid  upraised;  d,  utricle  of  Jamb's  quarte-s;  e,  utricle  of  pigweed  opening  all 
around;  /.  achene  of  buttercup;  g,  same  split  lengthwise  to  show  the  enclosed  seed;  h,  a  follicle;  i,  silique  of  a  mus- 
tard; ;',  capsule  of  a  St.  Johnswort;  k,  a  pod  or  legume;  I,  lament  or  jointed  pod  of  a  tick-trefoil.  (After  Gray.) 

them  are  the  pod  of  the  weeds  of  the  pea  family,  which  splits  along 
both  sides  into  two  valves ;  the  follicle  of  the  milkweed,  which  splits 
down  one  side  only  :  the  capsule  or  fruit  of  a  compound  ovary, 
which  usually  splits  lengthwise  into  several  valves,  as  in  the  corn 
cockle,  but  sometimes  discharges  its  seeds  through  chinks  or  pores, 
as  in  the  velvet  leaf,  or  bursts  irregularly  as  in  the  lobelia;  the 
silique  of  the  mustard  family,  a  pod  which  splits  into  two  valves 
leaving  a  thin  partition  wall  with  the  seeds  attached,  and  the 
pyxis,  a  pod  which  opens  with  a  little  circular  lid  as  in  the  plan- 
tain and  purslane. 

The  duty  of  all  these  different  forms  of  fruit  or  seed  vessels  is 
to  retain  and  protect  the  ripened  seeds  until  they  are  ready  for 
distribution  to  fields  and  pastures  new.  Of  the  seed,  which  is  the 


HOW  TO  USE  THE  FAMILY  KEYS.  43 

final  product  of  the  weed — the  one  object  of  its  existence — enough 
has  been  said  or  will  be  said  in  the  pages  which  are  to  follow.  Hav- 
ing thus  described  the  parts  of  a  weed  we  see  that  while  they  are 
numerous  they  are  not  difficult  to  learn.  Anyone  with  a  corn 
cockle  or  some  other  weed  by  his  side  can  soon  learn  these  parts 
so  that  he  should  be  able,  with  the  aid  of  the  family  keys  and  de- 
scriptions which  follow,  to  locate  any  one  of  the  150  weeds  which 
are  listed.  Only  a  little  time,  a  little  patience,  a  little  labor  are 
necessary  and  a  knowledge  which  will  open  up  a  new  world  of  value 
and  of  interest  will  be  his. 

KEYS  TO  FAMILIES  OF  WEEDS. 

Weeds  which  have  a  number  of  different  characters  in  common 
are  grouped  into  a  family  by  themselves.  The  227  species  of  In- 
diana weeds  hereafter  considered  belong  to  no  less  than  38  dif- 
ferent families.  Each  of  these  families  has  both  a  common  and  a 
scientific  name.  Keys  or  tables  leading  up  to  each  family  have 
been  prepared.  A  person  by  aid  of  these  keys  can  locate  the  weed 
at  hand  in  its  proper  family  and  then,  by  comparing  the  descrip- 
tions of  the  weeds  grouped  under  that  family  heading  with  the 
one  in  hand,  will  soon  be  able  to  tell  whether  it  is  one  of  the  de- 
scribed and  listed  species  or  not.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
there  are  other  plants,  1,800  and  more,  growing  wild  in  Indiana 
which  are  not  described  in  this  book  and  it  is,  therefore,  very  prob- 
able that  one  of  them  may  be  the  supposed  weed  which  the  per- 
son is  trying  to  locate.  If  so,  he  may  or  may  not  be  able  to  locate 
it  in  the  family  to  wrhich  it  belongs  by  the  keys  given,  for  those 
keys  are  designed  only  for  the  species  of  weeds  listed  and  there  are 
many  other  families  of  plants  besides  those  including  the  weeds 
which  are  represented  in  the  State. 

How  TO  USE  THE  KEY. — Gather  a  complete  specimen  of  the  sup- 
posed weed,  roots  and  all.  Be  sure  and  get  one  in  flower  and  if  pos- 
sible also  partly  in  fruit.  Have  a  pocket  lens  or  magnifying  glass, 
such  as  a  linen  tester,  a  sharp  pocket  knife  and  a  long  needle  at 
hand.  First  examine  the  leaves  and  a  cross  section  of  the  stein  to 
see  whether  it  is  an  indogt  n  or  c.rogcn.  (Fig.  15.)  If  an  endogen, 
go  to  the  "Key  to  the  Families  of  Endogen  Weeds"  and  compare 
carefully  the  plant  with  the  characters  mentioned  after  a.  If  it 
agrees  with  these  go  to  /)  and  compare  with  the  characters  there 
given;  if  it  do^s  not  fit  them,  go  to  bl)  and  again  compare.  If  it 
fits  1)  or  bl)  go  to  the  family  whose  name  and  page  are  given  after 
the  letter  it  fits,  and  read  over  the  family  description  carefully  to 


44  THE    INDIANA    WEED   BOOK. 

see  that  it  agrees  with  the  weed  in  hand.  If  it  did  not  fit  a,  go  to 
aa  and  compare.  If  it  is  an  endogen  and  listed,  it  belongs  either 
under  a  or  aa.  If  it  fits  aa  go  to  c,,  etc. 

If  the  weed  is  an  exogen,  turn  to  the  "Key  to  the  Divisions  of 
Exogens, ' '  and  examine  the  plant  for  petals  to  see  whether  they  are 
present  or  not.  If  not  present,  go  to  the  "Key  to  the  Families  of 
Apetalous  Exogens"  and  try  that.  If  the  petals  are  present  see 
whether  they  are  wholly  separate  one  from  another ;  if  so,  go  to  the 
"Key  to  the  Families  of  Polypetalous  Exogens."  If  they  are 
more  or  less  united  the  plant  is  gamopetalous  and  the  family  should 
be  sought  for  under  the  "Key  to  the  Families  of  Gamopetalous 
Exogens."  Remember  that  whenever  the  plant  fits  a  of  a  key  it 
will  run  to  some  family  whose  name  is  given  between  a  and  aa.  If 


Fig.  15.  Illustrating  the  differences  between  endogens  and  exogens:  a,  cross-section  of  corn-stalk,  the  dots 
showing  the  tops  of  the  long  strands  of  woody  fibre  scattered  irregularly  through  the  pith;  6,  parallel  reined  leaf 
of  an  endogen;  c,  cross-section  of  stem  of  an  endogen,  showing  the  4  stem  regions,  e,  the  epidermis,  c,  cortex  or 
bark,  w,  the  wood,  p,  the  pith;  d,  netted  veined  leaf  of  exogen  with  stipules  at  base.  (After  Coulter  and  Gray.) 

it  fits  a  and  6  it  will  run  to  a  family  between  6  and  66.  Whenever 
it  does  not  fit  a  letter  go  to  the  double  of  the  same  letter,  and  from 
there  on  down  the  key,  never  backward.  If  it  fits  the  characters 
given  after  a  letter,  as  cy  and  there  is  no  family  name  following  c 
then  go  to  d  and  so  on  down  the  key  until  a  family  name  occurs 
after  a  letter. 

As  with  the  endogens,  when  it  runs  to  a  family  name  turn  to 
the  page  given  and  compare  carefully  the  weed  with  the  descrip- 
tion there  given.  If  the  weed  agrees  with  this  description  then 
rea.d  the  descriptions  of  the  different  weeds  under  that  family 
until  you  find  one  with  which  your  plant  agrees.  If  the  family 
description  does  not  fit  the  weed  a  mistake  has  more  than  likely 
been  made  in  running  it  into  that  family.  In  a  work  of  this  kind, 
where  the  family  descriptions  and  descriptions  of  species  are  neces- 


KEY    TO   FAMILIES   OF   ENDOGtiN    WEEDS.  45 

sarily  brief,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  some  of  the  characters 
given  will  not  agree  with  the  plant  in  hand.  All  plants  vary  more 
or  less,  no  two  individuals  being  exactly  alike.  If  the  most  of  the 
more  important  characters  agree  it  is  very  probable  that  the  plant 
has  been  correctly  traced. 

All  of  the  weeds  listed  belong  to  the  sub-kingdom  of  plants 
known  as  Spermatophyta  or  seed-bearing  plants  in  which  the  pol- 
len grains  develop  into  pollen  tubes  which  find  their  way  to  embryo 
sacs  in  ovules  and  there  fertilize  the  germ  cells  or  microscopic  eggs, 
which  remain  enclosed  in  the  ovules  until  they  ripen  into  seeds, 
All  of  them  also  belong  to  the  class  Angiospermce  or  flowering- 
plants  in  which  the  ovules  are  enclosed  in  an  ovary  which  becomes 
the  fruit. 

KEY   TO    SUBCLASSES    OF    ANGIOSPERMJ2. 

a.  Leaves  with  parallel  veins,  mostly  alternate,  entire,  linear  or  grass- 
like  and  sheathing  the  stem  at  hase;  stem  without  distinct  layers 
of  bark,  wood  and  pith ;  embryo  of  the  seeds  with  one  seed-leaf, 
the  first  leaves  of  the  sprouting  plant  alternate;  parts  of  the  flowers 
usually  in  3's  or  G's.  ENDOGENS,  p.  45. 

aa.  Leaves  with  netted  veins ;  stems  formed  of  circular  rings  of  bark,  wood 
and  pith  ;  embryo  and  young  plant  with  a  pair  of  opposite  seed- 
leaves  ;  parts  of  the  flowers  rarely  in  3's  or  G's.  EXOGENS,  p.  40. 

KEY    TO    THE    FAMILIES    OF    ENDOGEN    WEEDS.* 

a.  Ovaries  simple,  distinct,  1-celled,  1-seeded,  formed  of  a  single  carpel ; 
flowers  without  sepals  or  petals,  borne  in  the  axils  of  dry  chaffy 
scales  (glumes)  and  arranged  in  spikes  or  spikelets. 

b.  Stems  (culms)  mostly  hollow,  cylindrical;  sheaths  split  to  the  base; 

glumes  in  pairs ;  fruit  a  grain.  GRASS  FAMILY,  p.  50. 

1)1).  Stems  solid,  often  triangular;  sheaths  closed;  glumes  single;  fruit 

an  achene.  SEDGE  FAMILY,  p.  57. 

aa.  Ovaries  compound,   formed  of  2  or  more   carpels ;    flowers  complete, 

their  parts  in  3's  or  G's. 

c.  Sepals  and  petals   (perianth)  green  or  brown;  stems  rush-like  with 

grass-like  leaves;  flowers  small    (stamens  G  and  leaves  all  basal 
in  our  weeds.)  RUSH  FAMILY,  p.  59. 

cc.  Petals  or  inner  part  of  the  perianth  colored ;  fruit  a  3-celled  capsule 
splitting  down  the  back  of  each  carpel ;  plants  mostly  springing 
from  bulbs;  our  weeds  with  an  onion-like  odor. 

LILY  FAMILY,  p.  GO. 


*The  keys  as  given  include  only  the  families  to  which  the  weeds  hereafter  listed  belong. 


46  THE    INDIANA    WKF.D    BOOK. 

KEY    TO    THE    DIVISIONS    OF    EXOGENS. 

a.  Petals  wholly  wanting;  calyx  present,  except  in  some  spurges. 

APETALOUS  EXOGENS.  p.  4(1 
aa.  Petals  and  sepals  both  present. 

fc.  Petals  all  separate  and  distinct  one  from  another,  except  hi  the 
pea  family  where  the  lower  two  are  often  united.  (Figs.  9; 

10,  a.)  POLYPETALOUS  EXOGENS.  ]).  4<>. 

T)b.  Petals  more  or  less  united  into  one  piece.     (Fig.  10.  b-y.) 

GAMOPETALOUS  EXOGENS,  p.  47. 

KEY    TO    THE    FAMILIES    OF    APETALOUS    EXOGEN     WEEDS. 

«.  Fruit  an  achene,  1-celled,  1 -seeded ;  ovary  1  only,  superior.    (Nettles. 

docks,  smartweeds,  etc.) 

&.  Herbs  with  small  clustered  greenish  flowers,  and,  in  our  weeds,  with 
stinging  hairs;  stipules  not  forming  a  circular  sheath  about 
the  joints ;  achenes  compressed,  ovate  or  oblong. 

NETTLE  FAMILY,  p.  61. 

II).  Herbs  without  stinging  hairs  but  usually  with  a  sour  or  very  acrid 
juice;  stipules  forming  a  cylindrical  sheath  about  the  joints  of 
stem  ;  achenes  3-sided  or  3-angled.          BUCKWHEAT  FAMILY,  p.  03. 
era.  Fruit  not  an  achene;  ovary  1  only,  superior.      (Lamb's  quarters,  pig- 
weeds, pokewiCHl,  spurges,  etc.) 
c.  Leaves  without  milky  juice;  fruit  not  3-seeded. 

d.  Leaves  not  in  whorls;   fruit  not  a  capsule;  stem  usually  erect 

e.  Fruit  a  utricle.  1-celled,  1-seeded  (Fig.  14.  d,  c.)  ;  stipules  none. 

/.  Flowers    not    surrounded    by    dry    pointed    bracts;    sepals 

green  or  greenish ;  leaves  and  stems  usually  white-mealy 

or  glandular.  GOOSEFOOT  FAMILY,  p.  69. 

//.  Flowers   each   surrounded   by   3   dry   persistent   awl-shaped 

bracts;    sepals   brown   or   colorless;    plant   not   mealy   or 

glandular.  AMARANTH  FAMILY,  p.  72. 

ce.  Fruit  a  fleshy   10-seeded  berry ;  styles  and  stamens  10  each ; 

ovary   10-celled ;    flowers   numerous   in   terminal   racemes ; 

leaves  alternate,  entire.  POKEWEED  FAMILY,  p.  75. 

(Id.  Leaves  in  whorls  of  5's  or  G's ;  stem  prostrate,  spreading;  fruit 

a  3-celled  capsule.  CARPET-WEED  FAMILY',  p.  76. 

rr.  Leaves  with  a  milky  acrid  juice ;  staniinate  and  pistillate  flowers 

of  our  weeds  separate  but  on  the  same  plant,  the  pistillate  ones 

enclosed  by  a  cup-shaped  involucre  or  a  leaf-like  bract;  fruit 

3-seeded.  SPURGE  FAMILY,  p.  91. 

KEY    TO    THE    FAMILIES    OF    POLYPETALOUS    EXOGEN    WEEDS. 

a.  Stem  leaves  opposite,  entire. 

ft.  Leaves  not  punctuate  with   pelluci'd  and  dark   dots ;   stamens   not 

over   10,   separate;    ovules   borne  on   a   central   column;    corolla 

not  yellow.  PINK  FAMILY,  p.  77. 

&&.  Leaves  and  petals  with  numerous  very  small  round  pellucid  or  dark 

.    dots;  stamens  very  numerous  united  in  3  or  more  sets;  ovules 

borne  on  the  walls  of  the  ovary ;  corolla  yellow. 

ST.  JO?IN'SWORT  FAMILY,  p.  OS. 


KEY    TO    FAMILIES    OF    EXOGEN    WEEDS.  47 

aa.  Stem  leaves  of  our  weeds  either  alternate  or  clustered  at  the  ends  of 
the  branches. 

c.  Stem  prostrate,  succulent,  spreading;  leaves  mostly  clustered  at 
the  ends  of  the  branches ;   sepals  2 ;   corolla   regular,   yellow. 

PURSLANE  FAMILY,  p.  7(x 
cc.  Stem    rarely    prostrate,    or    if   so   not   succulent   and   the    sepals 

more  than  2. 
d.  Ovary  superior  or  wholly  free  from  the  calyx. 

c.  Stamens  numerous,  at  least  more  than  10;  corolla  regular 
/.  Stamens    all    separate    and    distinct;    ovaries    simple,    1- 

celled. 

g.  Sepals  all  separate  and  distinct ;  petals  and  stamens 
borne  on  the  receptacle  at  the  base  of  the  ovaries ; 
stipules  none;  our  weeds  with  simple  more  or  less 
lobed  leaves  and  yellow  corollas. 

CROWFOOT  FAMILY,  p.  SO. 

rj(j.  Sepals  more  or  less  united  at  base;  petals  and  sta- 
mens borne  on  the  calyx ;  stipules  present ;  our 
weeds  with  compound,  3-5  foliate  leaves  and  white 
or  yellow  corollas.  ROSE  FAMILY,  p.  85. 

//.  Stamens  all  united  in  a  column  and  connected  at  base 
with  the  short  claws  of  the  petals  (Fig.  11,  ft.)  ; 
ovaries  compound,  several  celled,  often  united  in  a 
ring.  MALLOW  FAMILY,  p.  95. 

ec.  Stamens  not  more  than  10. 

h.  Petals   4;    stamens   (I,    4    long.    2    short,    rarely    only    2; 
fruit  a  silique;  herbs  with  a  pungent  watery  juice. 

MUSTARD  FAMILY,  p.  81. 
hli.  Petals  5,  the  lower  2  often  more  or  less  united;  stamens 

never  (>   or  2 ;    fruit   not  a   silique. 

i.  Herbs ;  fruit  a  legume  or  pod ;  flowers  mostly  irreg- 
ular and  shaped  like  those  of  a  pea  (regular  in 
Cassia  or  wild  senna ) .  PEA  FAMILY,  p.  88. 

ii.  Shrubs  or  woody  vines;  fruit  a  small  drupe;  flowers 
regular;  our  included  species  with  milky  poisonous 
sap.  SUMAC  FAMILY,  p.  94. 

dd.  Ovary  inferior  or  partly  or  wholly  united  with  the  calyx. 
./.  Flowers   not   in   umbels,   yellow,   nocturnal;    leaves   simple; 
stamens  in  our  weeds  8 ;  ovules  numerous  in  each  cell 
of  the  ova ry.  E VENT NG-PRT M ROSE  FA M ILY,  p.  99. 

jj.  Flowers  in  umbels,  white  or  yellow,  diurnal ;  leaves  in  our 
weeds,  compound;  stamens  5;  ovules  1  in  each  cell  of 
ovary.  PARSLEY  FAMILY,  p.  100. 

KEY    TO    THE    FAMILIES    OF    GAMOPETALOUS    EXOGEN    WEEDS. 

a.  Ovary  superior  or  wholly  free  from  the  calyx. 

1).  Corolla  not  thin   dry  and  colorless ;   leaves  not  all  basal ;   flowers 

not  in  spikes  on  leafless  flower  stalks. 

c.  Herbs  with  milky  juice;  leaves  mostly  opposite;  fruit  a  follicle; 
seeds  bearing  a  long  tuft  of  white  hairs;  ovaries  2,  separate. 


48  THE    INDIANA    WKED    BOOK. 

(/.  Stamens  distinct;  pollen  in  ordinary  grains;  follicles  very  slen- 
der, cylindrical,  pointed.  DOGBANE  FAMILY,  p.  104. 
dd.  Stamens   united    by    their    filaments   to    form    a    tube;    polle.i 
grains  united  into  waxy  masses;  follicles  robust. 

MILKWEED  FAMILY,  p.  105. 

re.  Stems  and  leaves  without  milky  juice;  fruit  not  a  follicle;  seeds 
without  tufts  of  hairs;  leaves  opposite  or  alternate;  ovary  1, 
compound. 
c.  Corolla  regular   (slightly  irregular  in  blueweed  of  the  Borage 

Family). 
/.  Ovary  not  deeply  4-lobed ;  fruits  not  separating  as  1-seeded 

nutlets  when  rrpe. 

g.  Stamens  5;  flowers  not  in  terminal  spikes;  leaves  alter- 
nate. 
li.  Twining  or  trailing  vines;  fruit  not  a  berry  or  a  large 

prickly  capsule. 

i.  Steins    white   or    yellowish,    leafless,    twining,    para- 
sitic vines.  DODDER  FAMILY,  p.  110. 
ii.  Stems    green,    leaf-bearing    vines ;    flowers    of    our 
weeds  large,  funnel-form  or  bell-shaped. 

MORNING -GLORY  FAMILY,  p.  107. 

lilt.  Erect  and  branching  herbs,  not  vines;  fruit  a  berry 
or  a  large  prickly  capsule ;  corolla  either  bell-  or 
wheel-shaped,  or  large  funnel-form  and  ill-smelling. 

POTATO  FAMILY,  p.  124. 

y<j.  Stamens  4,  2  long,  2  short ;  flowers  of  our  weeds  white 

or    blue    in    erect    spikes    terminating    the    stems    or 

branches ;  leaves  opposite.  VERVAIN  FAMILY,  p.  115. 

//.  Ovary  deeply  4-lobed  around  the  style ;  fruit  separating  as 

nutlets,  those  in  our  weeds  mostly  armed  with  barbed 

prickles;  leaves  and  stems  rough  hairy. 

BORAGE  FAMILY,  p.  112. 

ec.  Corolla  irregular,  more  or  less  2-lipped   (nearly  regular  in  the 
nmllens  and  true  mints  of  the  Figwort  and  Mint  Families). 
j.  Ovary    4-lobed    around    the    style,    the    lobes    ripening    into 
smooth  1-seeded  nutlets ;  stem  4-sided ;  leaves  simple,  op- 
posite, when  crushed  emitting  an  aromatic  odor. 

MINT  FAMILY,  p.  117. 
jj.  Ovary   2-celled ;   fruit  a   many-seeded  capsule:   stems   rarely 

4-sided ;  leaves  mostly  alternate,  not  aromatic. 
k.  Herbs  with  rather  small  flowers;  stamens  mostly  2  or  4 
(5  in  the  mullens)  ;  seeds  borne  on  a  central  axis,  not 
winged.  FIGWORT  FAMILY,  p.  129. 

kk.  Woody  vines  with  large  trumpet-shaped  orange  flowers ; 
stamens  5;  fruit  a  long  pod-like  capsule;  seeds  borne 
on  the  margins  of  the  partition  separating  its  cells, 
winged.  TRUMPET-CREEPER  FAMILY,  p.  l.°,4. 

W).  Corolla  thin,  dry  and  membranous,  withering  on  the  pod;  leaves 
of  our  weeds  all  basal ;  flowers  in  dense  spikes  on  slender  leaf- 
less flower  stalks.  PLANTAIN  FAMILY,  p.  135. 


KEY    TO    FAMILIES    OF    EXOUEN    WEEDS.  40 

.  Ovary  inferior  or  more  or  less  united  with  the  calyx. 
/.  Flowers  not  closely  bunched  into  a  head  which  is  surrounded  by    i 
leafy    involucre;    those   of   our    weeds    mostly    2-lipped,    blue    or 
bluish  ;  steins  with  an  acrid  and  usually  milky  juice. 

BELL-FLOWER  FAMILY,  p.  140. 

//.  Flowers    closely    bunched    into    a    head    surrounded    by    a    leafy    in- 
volucre. 

in.  Flowers  of  head  all  ligulate  or  split  into  flat  rays   (Fig.  10,  <j.}, 
mostly  yellow;  juice  of  steins  and  leaves  milky. 

CHICORY  FAMILY,  p.  142. 
nun.  Flowers   all    tubular   or   only   the   outer   ones  of  the  head   with 

rays ;  juice  not.  or  rarely  milky. 
n.  Stamens    not    united    by    their    anthers    into    a    ring    or    tub« 

around  the  style. 

o.  Leaves  all  opposite,  their  ribs  and  the  flower-stalks' 
prickly;  heads  very  large,  oblong-cylindr:-.:al,  with  nu- 
merous long  spiny-tipped  awns;  flowers  all  perfect. 

TEASEL  FAMILY,  p.  1139. 

oo.  Leaves  alternate,  mostly  divided  or  lobed,  not  prickly ; 
stamiuate  and  pistillate  flowers  of  our  weeds  in  sepa- 
rate heads  on  the  same  plant,  the  latter  without  a 
corolla.  RAGWEED  FAMILY,  p.  149. 

nn.  Stamens  united  by  their  anthers  into  a  tube  or  ring  about 
the  style ;  fruit  or  so-called  seed  an  achene,  usually  bear- 
ing a  tuft  of  hairs  or  several  awns.  (Figs.  10,  cj ;  11,  /,  g.} 

THISTLE  FAMILY,  p.  153. 


The  arrangement  and  names  of  the  weeds  listed  are  mainly 
those  of  Britten  and  Brown's  ''Illustrated  Flora  of  the  Northern 
States  and  Canada."  This  is  a  work  of  three  volumes  published 
by  Chas.  Scribncr's  Sons,  N.  Y..  and  is  the  only  systematic  botany 
in  which  all  species  described  are  figured.  Twenty-five  of  the 
illustrations  used  in  this  book  were  taken  from  it.  The  others  are 
from  the  works  of  the  various  authors  whose  names  are  mentioned 
under  the  respective  figures. 

At  the  end  of  the  descriptions  will  be  found  a  list  of  the  princi- 
pal books  or  papers  which  have  been  used  in  the  preparation  of 
this  work,  and  also  a  glossary  of  the  more  important  botanical 
terms  which  have  been  used. 

The  first  letter  in  the  parenthesis  after  the  common  names  of 
each  weed  listed  shows  whether  the  plant  is  an  annual  (A.),  a  bi- 
ennial (B.)  or  a  perennial  (P.).  The  second  letter  denotes  whether 
it  is  introduced  (T.)  or  native  to  Indiana  (N.).  The  figure  1,  2  or 
3  shows  the  class  to  which  the  weed  has  been  assigned  by  the 
writer,  (See  p.  12).  Thus.  1  denotes  that  the  weed  belongs  to 
Class  I.,  2  a  weed  of  Class  II.  and  3  a  weed  of  Class  III. 

14) 


A  DESCRIPTIVE   CATALOGUE   OF  INDIANA 

WEEDS. 


THE  GR.ASS  FAMILY.— GRAMINE.E. 

Annual  or  perennial  herbs  having  the  stems  (culms)  usually 
hollow,  their  joints  closed:  leaves  alternate,  linear  and  sheathing 
the  stem,  the  sheaths  split  or  open  on  the  side  opposite  the  blade; 
roots  fibrous.  Flowers  usually  in  panicled  spikes,  composed  of  little 
spikes  called  spikelets;  calyx  and  corolla  absent  but  they  and  their 
involucre  represented  by  chaffy  scales  or  bracts,  known  as  glumes ; 
stamens  usually  3,  anthers  attached  at  middle  at  the  point  of  the 
filament  (Fig.  11,  (?)  and  swinging  loosely  thereon,  thus  enabling 
the  wind  to  easily  pollenize  the  hairy  or  feather-like  stigmas; 
ovary  1-celled  with  a  single  ovule  Fruit  a  seed-like  "grain." 

A  very  large  and  most  important  family  furnishing  the  food- 
grains  (cereals)  of  man.  and  the  principal  food  of  cattle.  About 
175  species  of  grasses  are  known  to  grow  wild  in  Indiana,  the  ma- 
jority of  them  being  tufted,  turf- forming  plants,  marked  by  under- 
ground rootstocks  which  branch  and  creep  beneath  the  surface  of 
the  soil.  Their  flower  clusters  vary  greatly  in  form  and  size, 
ranging  from  the  solid  spikes  of  timothy  and  foxtail  to  the  loose 
and  straggling  clusters  of  the  panicums  and  blue-grass.  Among 
them  are  many  forms  which,  though  at  times  furnishing  grasses  for 
stock,  are  enemies  of  cultivated  crops,  being  introduced  into  the 
fields  by  the  sowing  of  their  seeds  with  grain  or  other  grass  seeds. 
Ten  of  the  worst  of  these  are  herewith  described  as  weeds  while  5 
others  are  mentioned. 

"Grass  is  the  most  widely  distributed  of  all  vegetable  life,  and 
is  at  once  the  type  of  our  life  and  emblem  of  our  mortality.  Lying 
in  the  sunshine  among  the  buttercups  and  dandelions  of  May, 
scarcely  higher  in  intelligence  than  the  minute  tenants  of  that 
mimic  wilderness,  our  earliest  recollections  are  of  grass,  and  when 
the  fitful  fever  is  ended  and  the  foolish  wrangle  of  the  market  and 
the  forum  is  closed,  grass  heals  over  the  scar  which  our  descent  into 
the  bosom  of  the  earth  has  made,  and  the  carpet  of  the  infant  be- 
comes the  blanket  of  the  dead. 

"Grass  is  the  forgiveness  of  nature — her  constant  benediction, 

(50) 


WEEDS   OF   THE   GRASS   FAMILY. 


51 


Fields  trampled  with  battle,  saturated  with  blood,  torn  with  the 
ruts  of  cannon,  grow  green  again  with  grass  and  carnage  is  for- 
gotten. Streets  abandoned  by  traffic  become  grass-grown  like  rural 
lanes,  and  are  obliterated.  Forests  decay,  harvests  perish,  flowers 
vanish,  but  grass  is  immortal.  It  bears  no  blazonry  of  bloom  to 
charm  the  senses  with  fragrance  or  with  splendor,  but  its  homely 
hue  is  more  enchanting  than  the  lily  or  the  rose.  Should  its  har- 
vest fail  for  but  a  single  year,  famine  would  depopulate  the 
world." — J.  J.  Ivgalh. 

1.     ANDROPOGON     VIRGINICUS     L.     Virginia     Beard-grass.       Broom     Sedge. 
(P.  N.  2.) 

Erect  in  dense  tufts,  smooth,  2-4 
feet  high ;  culms  with  numerous  short 
branches,  light  green  when  yotms, 
brownish-yellow  when  mature;  leaves 
(J-1.2  inches  long,  acuminate,  rough  on 
the  margins.  Spikes  in  pairs  or  some- 
times 3  or  4,  about  1  inch  long,  and 
protruding  from  the  side  of  the  in- 
flated leaf  which  surrounds  the  flower- 
stem,  the  latter  slender,  jointed  and 
pubescent  with  many  long  spreading 
silky  hairs;  spikelets  in  pairs,  one  of 
them  sessile  and  perfect,  the  other 
wholly  wanting  or  represented  by  a 
mere  scale.  Seeds  oat-like,  i  inch  long 
with  a  straight  £  inch  awn  at  tip. 
(Fig.  1G.) 

Common  in  the  southern  half  of 
State  and  gradually  spreading 
northward.  July-Sept.  Occurs  in 
poor  clayey  or  sandy  upland  soil, 
especially  on  hill  slopes  where  the 
rocks  come  close  to  the  surface. 
Spreads  both  by  wind-carried  seeds 

and  rootstocks  and  apt  to  become  a  serious  pest.  Remedies :  grub- 
bing out  the  first  bunches  which  appear ;  burning  the  land  over  in 
early  autumn  to  destroy  the  seeds;  thorough  cultivation;  seeding 
with  clover  or  cow-peas. 

The  broom  beard-grass  (.4.  scopariiis  Michx.)  is  also  very  com- 
mon in  dr^v  soils  in  southern  Indiana  and  becoming  frequent  north- 
ward. It  differs  in  having  the  joints  of  the  flower-stem  (rachis) 
thickened  or  club-shaped  at  the  ends ;  the  spikes  solitary,  loose  and 
distant  and  the  awn  of  the  seed  bent  at  base.  Remedies  the  same. 


Fig.  16.    a,  a  spike;  b,  sessile  spikelet;  c  and  d, 
first  and  second  glumes.     (After  Scribner.) 


52 


THE    INDIANA    WEED   BOOK. 


2.  SYNTIIERISMA  SANGUINALIS  L.     Crab-grass.    Finger-grass.     (A.  I.  1.) 

Suberect  or  spreading,  often  rooting 
at  the  lower  joints,  1-3  feet  long ;  leaves 
smooth  or  sparingly  hairy,  2-6  inches 
long.  Spikes  3-10  in  number,  linear, 
often  purplish,  2-G  inches  long,  in 
whorls  and  spreading  like  fingers  from 
the  top  of  the  culm ;  spikelets  in  pairs, 
I  inch  long,  one  sessile  or  nearly  so,  sec- 
ond scale  half  as  long ;  flowering  stem 
flat  and  winged.  Seeds  straw-color,  1/10 
inch  long  (Fig.  17.) 

Abundant  in  gardens,  lawns  and 
cultivated  grounds.  June-Oct.  Af- 
ter midsummer  in  wet  seasons  one 
of  the  worst  of  lawn  weeds  often 
crowding  out  the  blue-grass.  When 
cut  or  pulled  and  thrown  aside  its 
stems  quickly  take  root  from  the 
joints  and  are  soon  as  luxuriant  as 
before.  Dry  sandy  fields  in  which 
melons  and  other  early  crops  are 
cultivated  are  often  over-run  in  late 
autumn  with  this  foreign  grass. 
The  small  crab-grass  (S.  linearis 
Krock.),  differing  in  having  the 
spikelets  shorter,  1/12  inch  long,  the 
second  scale  about  as  long,  the  leaves 
and  stems  shorter,  is  also  quite  com- 
mon in  similar  places.  Remedies : 
for  lawns,  pulling  and  burning; 
clean  grass  seed;  for  gardens  and 
fields,  late  hoeing  and  thorough  cul- 
tivation; burning  over  in  autumn. 

3.  PANICUM    CRVS-GALLI    L.      Barnyard 

Grass.  Cockspur  Grass.  (A.  I.  3.) 
Stems  erect,  stout,  often  branching 
at  base,  1-4  feet  high ;  leaves  G  inches 
to  2  feet  long,  rough-margined.  Spikes 
or  branches  of  the  flowering  panicle  f> 
to  15  in  number,  erect  or  retiexed ;  spike- 


Fig.  17.    a  and  b,  spikelets;    c,  flowering 
glume.     (After  Scribner.) 


lets     in     2-4     rows,     green 


purple, 


crowded   on   one  side  of   the   flowering 
stem;    glumes    of    the    neutral    flowers 


Fig.  18.    a  and  b,  spikelets;    c  and  d,  flowering 
glumes.     (After  Scribner.) 


WEEDS   OF   THE   GRASS   FAMILY. 


awn-pointed.     Seeds  J  inch  long,  pale  brown,  flat  on  one  side,  rounded  on 
the  other.      (Fig.  IS.) 

Frequent  in  barn-yards,  orchards  and  rich  moist  waste  places. 
June-Sept.  Often  cut  for  forage  \vhen  other  grass  is  scarce.  Seeds 
distributed  in  clover  and  millet  seed,  also  by  wind.  Remedies : 
mowing  before  the  seeds  are  ripe ;  clean  clover  seed. 


PANICUM  CAIMLLAKK  L. 
(A.  N.  2.) 


Old-witch  Grass.     Tumble-weed.     Tickle-grass. 

Erect  or  suberect,  1-2  feet  high, 
much  branched  from  the  base;  sheaths 
hispid  or  hairy;  leaves  (5-12  inches  long, 
more  or  less  hairy.  Flowers  in  a 
spreading  panicle ;  spikelets,  single, 
scattered,  borne  on  very  slender  stalks ; 
lower  glume  half  the  length  of  the 
empty  upper  one.  Seeds  straw-color, 
very  small,  smooth  and  shining.  (Fig. 
19.) 

Common  in  old  cultivated  fields, 
especially  those  with  a  dry  or  sandy 
soil.  July— Oct.  The  spreading  tops, 
being  very  brittle,  break  off  in  au- 
tumn and  are  blown  into  fence  cor- 
ners or  against  some  barrier  where 
they  form  great  piles.  Remedies : 
mowing  and  burning  to  prevent 
seeding.  About  30  species  of  Pani- 
cum  grow  wild  in  Indiana,  all  of 
which  are  more  or  less  weedy  in 
character,  though  some  of  them  are 
cut  for  hay  when  other  grass  is  scarce. 


Fig.  19.    a,  b  and  c,  spikelets;  d,  flowering 
glume;  e,  palea.     (After  Scribner.) 


f».     IXOPHOKUS   GLAUCUS   L.     Yellow   Foxtail.      Pigeon-grass-.     Pussy-grass. 

(A.  I.  1.) 

Stems  several,  erect,  more  or  less  branched,  1-3  feet  high ;  leaves  2-G 
inches  long,  smooth.  Spikes  straw-yellow,  cylindrical,  dense,  1-4  inches 
long;  spikelets  oval,  much  shorter  than  the  cluster  of  C>  to  11  yellow 
bristles  which  spring  from  beneath  them,  these  roughened  or  barl>ed  up- 
ward. Seeds  brownish,  £  inch  long,  flattened  on  one  side,  much  wrinkled 
crosswise.  (Figs.  0,  fj:  20.) 

One  of  our  worst  weeds,  occurring  everywhere  in  cultivated 
grounds;  also  in  meadows,  lawns  and  pastures.  July-Sept.  The 
seeds  in  grain  fields  mostly  ripen  after  the  corn  has  been  laid  by  or 
the  oats  and  wheat  cut.  They  are  much  relished  by  birds  and  poultry 
and  are  sometimes  destroyed  by  a  smut.  When  buried  they  retain 


54 


THE    IXDTAXA    WEED    BOOK. 


Fig.  20.  a  and  b,  spikelets,  a  showing  the 
bristles  which  sp.-ing  from  beneath.  (After 
Scribner.) 


their  vitality  for  years,  ready  to 
spring  up  whenever  conditions  are 
favorable.  Remedies:  use  of  clean 
seed ;  smothering  when  young ;  mow- 
ing  and  burning  stubble,  followed  by 
fall  plowing ;  cultivation  throughout 
the  season;  sheep  grazing  in  pas- 
tures, old  fields  and  the  aftermath 
of  meadows.  A  flock  of  sheep  will 
soon  clean  out  all  the  weeds  in  a  corn 
field,  without  injury  to  the  corn,  if 
turned  in  for  a  few  days  in  early 
autumn. 

The  green  foxtail  or  bottle-grass 
(/.  viridis  L.)  is  a  closely  allied 
species  which  is  also  common  in  the 
State.  The  spike  is  green,  more 
loosely  seeded  and  tapers  at  the  end, 
and  the  bristles  are  longer  and  also 
greenish.  Remedies  the  same. 


0.     CENCHRUS    TRIHULOIDES 

(A.  X.  1.) 

Snberect  or  spreading,  branching  free- 
ly, 8  inches  to  2  feet  long;  sheath  loose, 
compressed;  leaves  flat,  3-5  inches  long, 
smooth.  Spikelets  enclosed,  1  to  5  to- 
gether, in  a  globular  bristly  or  spiny 
cover,  which  hardens  and  falls  off  with 
them  as  a  rigid  bur.  (Fig.  21.) 

Common  in  sandy  soil  throughout 
the  State.  July-Get.  The  points  on  the 
spines  of  the  burs  have  barbs  directed 
backwards  so  that  the  bur  sticks  very 
closely  to  wool,  fur  or  clothing  and 
thus  distributes  far  and  wide  the  en- 
closed seeds.  They  are  said  to  be 
more  injurious  in  wool  than  the  burs 
of  any  other  weed.  Old  Linnaeus 
must  have  pricked  his  finger  on  one 
of  the  barbed  spines  when  he  named 
this  grass  tribuloides.  It  is  a  tribula- 
tion indeed  to  barefooted  boys.  Very 
troublesome  also  is  it  to  wool-growers 


L.      Sand-bur.      Bur-grass.      Hedgehog-grass. 


Fig.  21.  a,  bur;  b,  the  same  split  to  show 
the  enclosed  spike'tts;  c,  spikelct  with 
glumes.  (After  Scribner.) 


WEEDS   OP   THE   GRASS   FAMILY. 


55 


Fig.  22.     (After  Vasey.) 


and  a  great  nuisance  in  hay  cut 
from  sandy  soil.  Remedies:  burn- 
ing over  annually  the  area  in- 
fested; hoeing  or  other  close  culti- 
vation. 

7.  ERAGROSTIS  MAJOR  Host.  Stinki'ng- 
grass.  Pungent  Meadow-grass. 
(A.  I.  2.) 

Erect  or  spreading  at  base.  6  inches 
to  2  feet,  tall,  smooth  ;  leaves  2-7  inches 
long:  sheaths  shoiter  than  the  joints. 
Flowers  in  a  compound  panicle  2-'l 
inches  in  length,  its  brandies  spread- 
ing :  spikelets  densely  X-35  flowered, 
very  flat,  whitish  when  old.  Seeds 
pale  red,  very  small,  nearly  round. 
(Fig.  22.) 

A  showy  ill-smelling  grass,  oc- 
curring in  sandy  soil,  meadows  and 
waste  places.  July-Sept.  The  tlat 

lead-colored  heads  make  it  easily  known.    Remedies:  prevent  seed- 
ing by  late  and  thorough  cultivation. 
The  low   meadow-grass    (K.  cra- 

grostis  L.)  is  a  closely  allied  species. 

\vith  shorter  stems  and  spikes  and 

narrower  spikelets.   Also  introduced 

and   spreading   rapidly.      Remedies 

the  same. 

X.     BKOMUS  si<:cALixrs  L.     Cheat.  Chess 

(A.  I.  2.) 

Erect,  unhranched,  1-.3  feet  tall ; 
sheaths  shorter  than  the  joints;  leaves 
2-9  inches  long.  Flowering  panicle  2-X 
inches  in  length,  glabrous,  its  branches 
drooping;  spikelets  oblong-ovate,  swol- 
len, (J-10  flowered,  the  nerves  of  the 
scales  often  awned  or  bristle  tipped. 
Seeds  resembling  those  of  oats  but 
darker  and  SHIM  Her,  ;4  inch  long,  the  ad- 
hering glumes  with  a  row  of  bristles 
down  each  side  of  the  groove.  (Fig.  2.8. ) 
A  winter  annual,  common  in 
grain  fields  and  often  along  fence- 
rows,  June-Aug,  The  seeds  when  buried  retain  vitality  for  years 


Fig.  2?>.    a,  spikelet.     (After  Scribner.) 


56 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    HOOK. 


and  then  often  spring  up  where  clean  seed  wheat  has  been  sown, 
giving  rise  to  a  common  belief  among  farmers  that  wheat  turns 
to  cheat.  Needless  to  say,  the  two  are  very  distinct  grasses  and 
each  comes  always  from  its  own  seed.  Remedies :  preventing  the 
seed  from  ripening  by  pulling  or  mowing  the  cheat ;  sowing  clean 
seed  of  wheat,  oats  or  other  cereal ;  cultivation  with  hoed  crops. 

The  downy  brome-grass  or  slender  chess  (B.  tcctorum  L.)  oc- 
curs in  the  northern  part  of  the  State,  and  is  liable  to  become  a 
bad  weed.  It  ma}7  be  known  by  its  weak  stem  and  somewhat  one- 
sided downy  panicles.  The  lower  empty  scale  is  but  1 -nerved 
whereas  in  cheat  it  is  3-nerved.  Remedies  the  same. 

0.     AGROPYRON  REPENS   L.     Couch-grass.     Quack-grass.    Dog-grass.    Devil's- 
grass.      (P.  I.  1.) 

Steins  several,  1-3  feet  tall,  from  a  long  jointed  running  rootstock : 
sheaths  smooth ;  leaves  flat,  rough  above.  Spike  2-8  inches  long,  not 
branched;  spikelets  in  2  rows,  3-7  flowered,  the  scales  glabrous,  acute 
or  short-awned.  Seeds  slender,  f  inch  long,  5-7  nerved  and  short-awned 
at  tip.  (Fig.  24.) 

A  perennial  grass,  sometimes  cut  for  hay  but  in  most  places 
a  vicious  weed,  occurring  in  grain  fields,  spreading  by  its  large, 

strong  creeping  rootstocks  and 
crowding  out  the  grain.  June- 
Sept.  The  rootstocks  run  just  be- 
neath the  surface  and  are  so  strong 
and  unyielding  that  they  have  been 
known  to  push  their  way  through  a 
potato.  Remedies:  (a)  in  culti- 
vated fields,  shallow  plowing  in 
early  autumn,  then  harrowing  to 
work  the  rootstocks  free  from  the 
.soil,  followed  by  raking  and  burn- 
ing, or  if  too  wet,  throwing  them 
into  heaps  and  allowing  them  to  rot. 
A  second  and  deeper  plowing,  har- 
rowing and  raking  will  often  be 
necessary  to  thoroughly  remove  the 
deeper  growing  stocks.  Such  fall 
plowing,  followed  by  thorough  cul- 
tivation the  next  season,  will  usually 
clean  out  the  weed.  (1}  Shallow 
plowing  and  harrowing  in  hot  dry  weather,  (c)  Plowing  under 


Fig.  24.     (After  Vasey.) 


OF   TTTE   SEDflE   PAMTt.Y. 


deeply  after  the  grass  has  been  cut  for  hay.     (d)    In  lawns,  hoe- 
cutting  and  salting,  burning  or  removing  every  joint. 

In  Europe  these  underground  stems  are  gathered  and  sold,  be- 
ing used  in  medicine  for  kidney  and  bladder  troubles.  They  are 
pale  yellow,  smooth,  about  -J  inch  in  diameter,  with  joints  at  in- 
tervals of  an  inch  from  which  slender  rootlets  are  produced.  When 
washed,  cut  into  short  pieces,  about  2/5  inch  in  length,  on  a  hay 
or  feed  cutter  and  dried,  these  rootstocks  (not  the  rootlets)  are 
sold  to  the  drug  trade  as  dog-grass  or  triticum,  the  price  ranging 
from  3  to  7  cents  per  pound. 

10.     HORDEUM    JUBATUM    L.      Wild   Barley.      Squirrel-tail    Grass.      Skunk 
Grass.     (P.  N.  2.) 

Erect,  simple,  smooth,  10-30  inches 
high ;  sheaths  shorter  than  the  joints ; 
leaves  flat,  1-5  inches  long,  erect,  rough. 
Spikes  terminal,  cylindrical,  2-4  inches 
long ;  spikelets  in  two  opposite  rows, 
usually  in  3's  at  each  joint  of  the  flower- 
stem,  the  central  one  containing  a  per- 
fect flower,  the  two  side  ones  imperfect; 
the  empty  scales  forming  rough  awns, 
harhed  upwards,  1-3  inches  long;  awn  of 
flowering  scale  1-2  inches  long.  Seed 
slender,  £  inch  long,  sharp-pointed,  re- 
sembling that  of  rye.  (Fig.  25.) 

Frequent  in  old  fields  and  along 
fence-rows  and  railways  in  dry  and 
rather  poor  clayey  or  gravelly  soil. 
July-Sept.  It  grows  usually  in  large 
tufts  from  fibrous  roots  and  is  easily 
known  by  the  grayish-green  leaves 
and  long,  bearded  nodding  spikes. 
The  barbed  seeds  and  awns  often 
penetrate  the  flesh  surrounding  the  mouths  of  animals  which  at- 
tempt to  eat  it,  causing  ulcers,  swellings,  and,  in  some  instances,  to- 
tal blindness.  Hay  containing  the  grass  is  therefore  almost  value- 
less. It  spreads  only  by  seeds,  which  are  widely  scattered  by  wind 
and  water,  and  can  be  controlled  by  cutting  or  pulling  before  the 
seeds  ripen,  or  by  cultivation.  Isolated  clumps  should  be  destroyed 
wherever  seen. 

THE  SEDGE  FAMILY.— CYPERACE^E. 

A  large  family  of  grass-like  or  rush-like  herbs,  but  having  the 
stems  slender,  generally  solid  instead  of  hollow  and  often  either 
triangular  or  4-sided ;  leaves  grass-like,  with  the  sheaths  closed ; 


Fig.  25.    a,  spikelet.     (After  Scribner.) 


THE    INDIANA    WEED   BOOK. 


roots  fibrous.  Flowers  without  petals  or  sepals,  arranged  in  spike- 
lets  and  usually  solitary  in  the  axils  of  each  scale  or  glume;  sta- 
mens 1-3;  ovary  1-celled,  producing  a  single  seed  which  in  fruit 
usually  forms  a  three-cornered  nutlet  called  an  achene. 

About  160  species  of  the  family  are  known  from  the  State.  For 
the  most  part  they  grow  in  damp  places,  as  the  borders  of  streams 
and  lakes,  along  ditches  and  the  margins  of  sloughs  They  are  com- 
monly known  as  sedges,  cotton- 
grasses,  spike-rushes,  bulrushes,  nut- 
grasses,  etc.,  and  have  little  or  no 
economic  value.  A  few  of  them  on 
wet  prairies  and  lake  margins  are 
cut  for  hay,  but  it  is  coarse-stemmed 
and  of  poor  quality.  Occupying 
\vaste  places,  as  they  generally  do, 
they  are  given  little  attention  by 
the  farmer,  and  though  many  of 
them,  did  they  grow  in  cultivated 
ground,  are  abundant  enough  to  be 
called  weeds,  only  a  few  have  a  ten- 
dency to  spread.  Like  the  grasses, 
the  sedges  are  mostly  plants  of  open 
windswept  places  or  marshy  levels, 
where  the  facilities  for  wind  fertili- 
zation are  greatest  and  more  usually 

Fig.  26.    (After  Smith.)  present. 

11.     CYPERUS  ESCULENTUS  L.     Yellow  Xut-grass.     Galingale.      (P.  N.  3.) 

Stems  erect,  stout,  triangular.  1-2^  feet  tall,  shorter  than  the  basal 
leaves,  which  are  light  green,  1/3  inch  wide.  Flowers  in  an  umbel  with 
4-10  branches  and  involucre  of  3-(>  leaves ;  spikelets  numerous,  straw- 
colored,  flat,  their  flower-stalk  narrowly  winged ;  style  3-cleft.  Achenes 
obovate-oblong,  3-angled.  (Fig.  20.) 

Common  in  low  cultivated  ground  which  has  been  recently 
drained.  July— Oct.  Spreads  by  underground  stems  bearing  small 
pear-shaped  tubers,  i  inch  in  length,  at  intervals  of  a  few  inches; 
seeds  also  carried  in  hay,  and  grass  seed,  and  the  tubers  often  on 
cultivating  tools.  The  numerous  tubers  are  edible,  containing 
about  22  per  cent,  of  oil,  28  per  cent,  of  starch  and  12  to  21  per 
cent,  of  gum  and  sugar.  The  oil  when  extracted  is  said  to  be  most 
excellent  for  cooking  purposes.  In  rich  sandy  loams  this  sedge  is 
often  allowed  to  grow  as  a  food  for  hogs,  which  are  turned  into 
the  field  in  autumn  to  root  up  the  tubers.  Remedies:  frequent 


WEEDS    OF    THE    RUSH    FAMILY. 


59 


hoeing  throusrhout  the  season ;  keep  fence  rows  clean ;  thick  seed- 
ing with  clover  or  timothy. 

An  allied  species,  the  straw-colored  sedge  (C.  strigosus  L.)  dif- 
fering in  propagating  by  solid  bulb-like  tubers  from  the  base,  the 
spikes  longer  and  more  loose  and  achenes  linear-oblong,  is  also  a 
common  weed  in  damp  soils.  Remedies  the  same. 

THE  RUSH  FAMILY.— JUNCACE.E. 

Perennial  or  annual  grass-like  herbs,  often  growing  in  tufts; 
stems  usually  simple,  slender,  cylindrical ;  leaf-blades  terete,  grass- 
like  or  channeled,  the  sheaths  with  free  margins.  Flowers  small, 
clustered;  sepals  and  petals  6,  chaff-like,  without  scales  or  glumes 
beneath  them  as  in  the  two  preceding  families;  stamens  3  or  6; 
ovary  1-  or  3-celled  with  3  stigmas.  Fruit  a  small  capsule  opening 
at  the  sides;  seeds  usually  numerous. 

Only  about  25  kinds  of  rushes  are  known  from  the  State.  They 
usually  occur  on  the  sandy  beaches  of  lakes  or  along  the  borders 
of  marshes  and  swamps  and  resemble  sedges  but  have  the  parts 
of  the  small  flowers  in  threes,  like  the  lily  family,  but  not  showy 
as  there.  Neither  the  scouring  rush  nor  the  tall  bulrushes  belong 
to  this  family,  so  that  their  names  are  misleading.  Only  one  of 
the  true  rushes  is  with  us  to  be  considered  as  a  weed. 

12.  JUNCUS  TKNUIS  Wilkl.  Wire-grass.  Slender  Hush.  Yard  Hush.  (P.  X.  3.) 
Steins  erect,  slender,  tufted,  wiry,  S-20  inches  high ;  true  leaves  all 

basal,  Hat  linear,  half  the  length  of  stein;  leaf-like  bract  just  below  thy 

flowering  portion  longer  than  the  latter. 
Sepals  jind  petals  green,  lanceolate,  acute, 
spreading,  longer  than  the  egg-shaped  cap- 
sule; stamens  0.  Seeds  narrowly  oblong 
with  oblique  ends,  very  small,  delicately 
ribbed  and  cross-lined.  (Fig.  27.) 

Common  in  dry  or  moist  soil,  espe- 
cially along  woodland  pathways,  bor- 
ders of  fields  and  roadsides.  June— 
Aug.  The  stems  are  full  of  elasticity 
and  after  being  trodden  upon  by  man 
cr  beast  spring  erect,  apparently  un- 
harmed. It  is  this  property  of  upris- 
ing after  adversity  which  enables  the 
wire-grass  to  thrive  along  the  path- 
ways and  crowd  therefrom  the  more  valuable  blue-grass  which  re- 
mains down  when  crushed  beneath  the  heel  or  hoof.  Remedies: 
sheep-grazing;  thorough  cultivation  where  found  in  fields.. 


Fig.  27.      Showing  fruit  and  seed.      (After 
Britton  and  Brown.) 


60 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


THE  LILY  FAMILY.—  LILI  ACE  JE. 

Herbs  with  grass-like  leaves,  arising  usually  from  bulbs  or 
corms,  rarely  from  rootstoeks  or  fibrous  roots.  Flowers  solitary  or 
clustered,  perfect,  the  calyx  and  corolla  colored  alike  and  forming  a 
perianth,  their  six  divisions  either  distinct  or  more  or  less  united 
to  form  a  tube;  stamens  6.  borne  on  the  tube  of  the  perianth  or 
at  the  base  of  its  segments  ;  ovary  3-celled.  Fruit  a  capsule,  open- 
ing lengthwise. 

As  above  defined  the  Lily  Family  comprises  about  1,300  species 
of  widely  distributed  plants,  many  of  them  producing  the  most 
showy  and  graceful  of  flowers.  The  different  species  of  trilliums, 
wake-robins,  smilax  or  green-briers  and  bellworts,  bunch  flowers, 
etc.,  have  been  separated  by  modern  botanists  to  form  3  distinct 
families,  thus  greatly  decreasing  the  number  formerly  included 
within  its  bounds.  As  a  result  only  about  20  species,  belonging  to 
the  family  as  limited,  grow  wild  in  Indiana.  These  include  the 
day  and  wood  lilies,  wild  onions  and  garlics,  adder  's-tongues  and 
wild  hyacinths.  Of  these  but  one  is  common  and  troublesome 
enough  to  be  termed  a  weed. 

13.     ALLIUM  VINEALE  L.  Wild  or  Field  Garli'c.  Wild  Onion.    (A.  or  B.  I.  1.) 

Stein  1-3  feet  high,  springing  from 
an  egg-shaped  bulb  ;  leaves  2-4,  nar- 
rowly linear,  hollow,  terete,  channeled 
above,  borne  below  the  middle  of  the 
flowering  stem;  the  early  basal  leaves 
similar,  4-10  inches  long.  Flowers  nu- 
merous, green  or  purplish,  in  a  ter- 
minal erect  cluster  or  umbel,  often 
wholly  or  in  part  replaced  by  small 
bulblets  which  are  tipped  by  long  hair- 
like  appendages;  bracts  below  th° 
flowers  2,  lanceolate,  pofnted,  soon 
falling  off;  flower  stalks  much  longer 
than  the  flowers.  Seeds  black,  flat, 
triangular,  1/16  inch  long.  (Fig.  28.) 

Common  in  rather  thin  clayey 
soils  in  southern  Indiana,  June- 
Aug.  This  weed  has  a  strong 
onion-like  odor  and  the  numerous 
bulblets  which  it  bears,  like  sets  of 
common  onions  at  the  top  of  the 

Stem,    are    formed    early    eilOUgh    to 
]je   harvested   with    wheat   and   Spoil 

the  flour.     Where   found  in  pas- 


F,g.28.  a,  matu-e  plant  bearing  bulblets  and 
flowers;  b,  young  shoot;  c,  bulblet  with  filament 
and  same  enlarged;  a,  cross-section  of  leaf.  (After 


WEEDS    OF    THE    NETTLE    FAMILY.  61 

tures  cows  eat  the  stems  and  leaves,  which  impart  their  odor  to  the 
milk  and  butter,  and  the  flesh  of  animals  eating  them  is  also  tainted 
with  the  flavor.  The  bulblets  are  produced  more  often  than  the 
seed  and  must  be  destroyed  or  prevented  from  forming  if  the  garlic 
is  eradicated.  Where  the  tops  are  not  allowed  to  produce  bulblets 
the  garlic  develops  numerous  small  secondary  bulbs  or  "cloves"  at 
the  base  of  the  old  underground  bulb.  In  late  autumn  these  send 
up  tufts  of  blue-green  shoots  which  are  apparently  little  injured 
by  the  cold  of  winter.  By  spring  the  small  bulbs  become  as  large 
as  peas  and  soon  develop  a  flowering  stalk.  In  general  both  bulbs 
and  bulblets  spread  slowly  unless  scattered  by  plow  or  harrow  or 
some  other  device  of  man. 

The  garlic  was  first  introduced  into  Indiana  near  New  Ross 
with  bulbs  of  the  grape  hyacinth  brought  from  New  York.  In 
the  southwestern  part  of  the  State  it  was  brought  in  by  bulblets  in 
impure  wheat  and  in  recent  years  much  complaint  of  it  has  been 
made  by  the  wheat  growers  of  the  "White  and  Wabash  valley  re- 
gions. Remedies:  (a)  late  fall  plowing  at  such  a  depth  as  to  leave 
as  many  bulbs  as  possible  close  to  the  surface  where  they  may  be 
exposed  to  alternate  thawing  and  freezing,  the  surviving  shoots  to 
be  destroyed  by  early  spring  cultivation  and  the  land  then  sowed 
to  oats  or  put  in  corn.  This  process  repeated  for  two  seasons  will 
destroy  most  of  the  garlic  and  the  remaining  plants  can  be  pulled 
or  treated  with  strong  carbolic  acid,  a  dozen  drops  of  which,  ap- 
plied by  a  machine  oil  can  to  a  bunch  of  underground  bulbs,  will 
kill  them  all.  (6)  Increased  liming  and  fertilization  and  short  ro- 
tation of  crops,  crowding  out  with  clover,  (c)  In  pastures,  salting 
and  sheep  grazing,  (d)  In  lawns,  applications  of  carbolic  acid. 

THE  NETTLE  FAMILY.— URTICACE^E. 

Herbs  with  watery  sap,  simple  leaves,  small  greenish  flowers 
and  often  armed  with  stinging  hairs.  Sepals  2-5,  often  united; 
petals  none;  stamens  as  many  as  the  sepals  and  opposite  them; 
ovary  1-celled,  1-seeded.  when  ripe  forming  an  achene. 

But  six  species  of  the  family  are  listed  from  the  State,  five  of 
which  may  be  classed  as  weeds,  though  only  two  are  in  places  com- 
mon enough  to  be  troublesome.  Those  which  sting  have  the  stems 
and  leaves  provided  with  peculiar  hairs  which  are  hollow,  very 
sharp-pointed  and  have  swollen  bases  around  which  a  cluster  of 
cells  form  a  cup-like  gland.  When  these  hairs  strike  and  enter 
the  flesh  their  tips  are  broken  off  and  the  glandular  cells  contract 
and  inject  through  them  a  very-  irritating  acid  which  produces  the 


62 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


stinging  sensation.  This  nettle  sting  is  one  of  the  highest  devices 
by  which  plants  guard  themselves  against  the  attack  of  animals. 
Weeds,  or  shrubs  with  juicy  tender  leaves,  are  very  apt  to  be 
eaten  by  rabbits,  cows,  sheep,  etc.  Many  of  the  wild  plants  have 
therefore  developed  some  means  of  protection,  such  as  the  spines 
or  prickles  of  the  blackberry,  thistle,  rose  and  hawthorne ;  the  bitter 
taste  or  bad  smell  of  hound's  tongue,  dog- fennel  and  catnip;  the 
many  hairs  of  the  mullen,  and  the  acrid  or  poisonous  juice  of  the 
buttercups,  poison  ivy,  spurges  and  smartweeds.  The  nettle,  how- 
ever, is  not  only  defensive  but  even  aggressive  in  its  protection,  so 
that  when  any  herb-loving  animal  thrusts  his  tender  nose  against 
it  the  sharp  points  pierce  his  skin,  the  liquid  is  injected  into  his 
veins  and  he  receives  a  lesson  which  prevents  him  from  ever  at- 
tempting to  devour  another  plant  of  its  kind.  Only  three  of  our 
nettles  possess  these  stinging  hairs. 

14.  T'RTiCA  GRACILIS  Ait.     Slender  Nettie.     Tall  Nettle.      (P.  N.  3.) 

Stem  slender,  erect,  simple  or  few 
branched.  2-6  feet  high ;  leaves  oppo- 
site, slender-stalked,  ovate-lanceolate, 
acuminate,  sharply  notched.  Flowers 
small,  greenish,  borne  on  slender  pan- 
i'cled  spikes  from  the  axils  of-  the 
leaves ;  sepals  and  stamens  4,  the  flow- 
ers direci'ous,  i.  e.,  male  and  female 
flowers  on  separate  plants.  Achenes 
very  small,  oval,  1/20  inch  long. 
(Fig-  29.) 

Frequent  in  fence-rows  and 
along  borders  of  cultivated  fields, 
especially  in  moist  soil.  June-Oct. 
Stinging  hairs  few  and  the  plant 
spreading  both  by  running  root- 
stocks  and  seeds.  Remedies :  mowing  in  June  and  again  in  August ; 
burning  mature  plants  in  autumn ;  grubbing  or  cultivation. 

15.  URTICASTRUM  UIVARICATUM  L.     Wood  Nettle.     Star  Nettle.     (I*.  N.  3.) 
Stem  rather  stont,  erect,  2-3  feet  high ;  leaves  alternate,  thin,  ovate. 

long-stalked,  sharply  notched,  pointed.  Flower  clusters  large,  loose:  se- 
pals and  stamens  of  male  flowers  5.  sepals  of  female  flowers  4,  unequal. 
Achene  ovate,  flat,  oblique,  twice  as  long  as  the  calyx. 

Common  in  dense  woods  in  rich  soil  and  in  moist  shady  places. 
July-Sept.  Thickly  clothed  with  stinging  hairs.  Remedies,  same 
as  for  preceding  species. 


Fig.  29.    Showing  a  flower  and  fruit.     (After 
Britton  and  Brown.) 


WEEDS    OF    THE    BUCKWHEAT    FAMILY. 


THE  BUCKWHEAT  FAMILY.— POLYGONACE.E. 

Herbs  or  twining  vines  with  alternate  entire  leaves,  jointed 
steins  and  usually  sheathing  united  stipules  just  above  the  swollen 
joints.  Flowers  small,  regular,  arranged  in  various  forms  of  in- 
ilorescence :  petals  none ;  calyx  free,  often  colored,  2-6  parted ;  sta- 
mens 2-9;  ovary  1 -celled  with  2  or  3  styles  and  a  single  ovule. 
Fruit  an  achene,  usually  either  triangular  or  4-sided,  often  com- 
pressed and  winged,  usually  covered  by  the  persistent  calyx. 

About  35  species  of  the  family  grow  wild  in  the  State.  Buck- 
wheat and  rbubarb  or  "pie-plant"  are  cultivated  members.  Our 
wild  species  are  known  as  docks,  smartweeds,  knotweeds  and  bind- 
weeds, and  flourish  in  various  localities.  Many  of  them  possess  an 
acrid  juice.  The  leaves  of  knotweeds  are  small  and  slender  while 
those  of  smartweeds  are  larger  and  willow-like.  The  bindweeds 
have  mostly  arrow-shaped  or  heart-shaped  leaves  and  twining  or 
climbing  stems.  To  the  family  belong  two  or  three  of  our  worst 
weeds  and  a  number  of  others  which  are  less  troublesome. 


If).     RUMEX    ACETOSELLA    L.      Field 
Sheep  Sorrel.     Sour- weed. 


Sorrel.      Horse    Sorrel.      Red    Sorrel. 
(P.   I.  1.) 

Stem  slender,  erect  or  nearly  so, 
0-15  inches  high ;  leaves  usually 
hastate  and  mostly  from  the  root  on. 
long  slender  steins,  1-4  inches  long. 
Flowers  numerous,  dioecious  in  whorls 
of  3-0,  nodding  and  borne  on  a 
naked  panicle;  calyx  reddish-green; 
pistillate  flowers  tipped  with  3  tiny, 
crimson  feathery  stigmas.  Fruit 
longer  than  calyx,  not  margined, 
covered  with  small  granules.  Seeds 
hi  own,  triangular,  1/20  inch  long. 
(Fig.  30.) 

Common  in  old  cultivated 
fields,  meadows  and  pastures,  es- 
pecially those  on  sloping  hillsides 
or  with  a  sandy  soil.  May— Oct. 
Leaves  very  sour,  often  picked 
and  eaten.  Spreading  by  run- 
ning root  stocks  as  well  as  by  seed 
and  often  crowding  out  feeble 
growths  of  other  crops.  Its  pres- 
ence usually  indicates  a  poor, 
light  soil,  where  little  else  will  grow.  This  dock  should  not  be 


Fig.  30.     Male  and  female  flowers  shown  on  right 
above.     (After  Vasey.) 


64  titE    tNf)lAN"A    WEED   BOOK. 

confused  with  the  yellow  wood  sorrel,  often  called  "sheep-sorrel" 
(Oxalis  stricta  L.).  which  has  clover-like  leaves  and  belongs  to  a 
wholly  different  family.  Remedies:  use  of  lime  or  other  fertilizers 
which  will  enable  other  plants,  as  clover  or  grasses,  to  grow  and 
crowd  out  the  sorrel;  fertilizing  and  reseeding  worn-out  pastures 
and  meadows  with  clean  seed. 

17.     RUMEX  CRISPUS  L.    Curled  Dock.    Sour  Dock.   Yellow  Dock.    (P.  T.  1.) 

Stem  rather  slender,  erect,  furrowed,  simple  or  branched  above,  1-4 
feet  hi'gh,  springing  from  a  long  yellow  spindle-shaped  root ;  root-leaves 
oblong-lanceolate,  heart-shaped  or  obtuse  at  base,  long-stalked  and  with 
wavy -curled  margins;  those  of  stem  short-stalked  and  smaller.  Flowers 
drooping,  borne  in  whorls  on  a  long,  leafless  wand-like  raceme;  calyx  dark 
green,  the  inner  sepals  large,  heart-shaped,  each  with  a  tubercle  on  the 
back.  Seeds  brown,  triangular,  smooth,  shining,  1/12  inch  long. 

Common  along  roadsides,  fence-rows,  in  barnyards,  dooryards 
and  waste  places  generally.  May-Sept.  The  root-leaves  when 
young  are  often  used  for  "greens"  but  the  plant  is  an  eyesore  and 
a  troublesome  weed,  difficult  to  eradicate  on  account  of  its  long 
stout  roots.  Remedies:  hand  pulling,  deep  cutting  or  grubbing 
before  the  seed  ripens;  mowing  several  times  during  the  season. 

In  England  it  is  common  and  is  referred  to  by  Shakespeare  in 
the  lines: 

"Nothing  teems 
But  hateful  docks,  rough  thistles,  kecksies,  burs." 

The  phrase  "in  dock,  out  nettle"  is  used  as  an  incantation  in 
Northern  England.  If  a  person  is  stung  with  a  nettle  the  affected 
part  is  rubbed  with  a  dock  leaf,  the  phrase  being  several  times  re- 
peated. The  same  words  are  there  also  much  used  to  denote  in- 
constancy or  sudden  change,  whence  the  lines : 

"Uncertaine,  certaine,  never  loves  to  settle, 
But  here,  there,  everywhere,  in  dock,  out  nettle." 

The  roots  of  this  and  the  next  species,  when  collected  in  late  sum- 
mer or  autumn,  washed,  split  lengthwise  and  carefully  dried,  are 
used  for  purifying  the  blood  and  as  a  remedy  in  skin  diseases. 
The  price  ranges  from  2  to  8  cents  a  pound. 

IS.  RUMEX  oBTUsiEOLirs  L.  Bitter  Dock.  Broad-leaved  Dock.  (1*.  I.  2.) 
Resembles  the  preceding  but  has  the  lower  leaves  broader,  ovate,  more 
heart-shaped  at  base  and  the  inner  sepals  with  straight  spine-tipped  teeth 
on  the  margins  and  only  one  of  them  with  an  oblong  tubercle  on  back. 
Seed  slightly  larger,  darker  and  with  a  longer  beak.  (Fig.  31.) 


WEEDS    OF    THE    BUCKWHEAT    FAMILY. 


65 


Occurs  in  the  same  places  as 
the  curled  dock,  but  less  common. 
June- Aug.  The  seeds  of  both  these 
docks  are  often  found  in  clover  and 
alfalfa  seed  which  has  not  been 
properly  cleaned.  Where  found  in 
cultivated  land,  both  can  be  eradi- 
cated only  by  short  rotation  or  thor- 
ough cultivation  with  hoed  crops. 

19.       POLYGONUM      PENNSYLVANICUM      L. 

Pennsylvania  Smart  weed.  Gland- 
ular Persicary.     (A.  N.  2.) 
Erect,  simple  or  branched,  2-l>  feet 
high,  the  flower  stems  with  numerous 
glands;  leaves  lanceolate,  pointed,  2-11 
inches  long.   Spikes  several,  short,  erect, 
cylindrical,  dense  flowered ;  calyx  dark 
pink  or  rose  color,  5-parted.   Seeds  lens- 
shaped,    £    inch    long,   dark,    shining. 

Fig.  31.    ( After  Vasey— 

(Fig.    32.) 

Common  in  moist  soil, 
especially  that  near  the 
margins  of  lakes,  ponds 
and  marshes.  July-Oct. 
Stems  stouter  than  our 
other  forms  and  when  old 
very  hard  and  woody. 
Seeds  frequent  in  those  of 
clover  cut  from  lowlands. 
The  leaves  are  often  spot- 
ted with  a  reddish  leaf- 
spot  fungus  and  the  heads 
are  sometimes  affected  with, 
a  smut  which  destroys  the 
s(Hjds.  Remedies:  mowing 
before  the  seeds  have  rip- 
ened; hoeing,  pulling  and 
cultivating. 

20.     POLYGONUM  PERSICARIA  L. 
Lady's  Thumb.     Spot- 
ted Smartweed.  Heart- 
weed.     (A.   I.   2.) 
Stem  erect  or  ascendirg,  simple  or  much  branched,  glabrous,  (5  inche. 

to  2  feet  high;  leaves  lanceolate,  pointed  at  both  ends,  often  with  a  tri- 


Fig.  32.     Showing  the  flower  opened  and  spread  apart  and 
the  fruit  with  its  two  styles.     (After  Small.) 


[5] 


66 


TITE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


angular  dark  spot  near  the  center.  Spikes  solitary  or  in  panicles,  pink 
or  dark  purple,  1-2  inches  long,  oblong,  dense-flowered,  erect  on  smooth 
stems.  Seeds  heart-shaped  or  triangular,  black,  smooth,  shining,  1/12 
inch  long. 

Common  in  gardens,  barnyards,  waste  places  and  cultivated 
fields,  especially  those  of  moist  clover-lands.  June-Oct.  The  name 
lady 's  thumb  is  given  .it  on  account  of  the  dense  oblong  reddish 
spikes.  According  to  Dr.  S.  A.  Forbes  it  harbors  the  corn-root 
aphis,  the  louse  appearing  with  the  first  leaves  of  the  plant.  Rem- 
edies, same  as  for  the  preceding. 

21.     POLYGONUM  HYDKOPiPER  L.     Common  Smartweed.    Water-pepper.     (A. 
I.  2.) 

Stem  erect,  slender,  simple 
or  branched,  often  red  or  red- 
dish, 8-24  inches  high ;  leaves 
lanceolate,  1-4  inches  long, 
marked  with  pellucid  punctures. 
Spikes  slender,  weak,  drooping. 
1-3  inches  long;  flowers  scat- 
tered, greenish-white ;  stamens 
4  or  C>.  Seeds  either  lens-shaped 
or  3-angled,  oblong,  opaque  or 
dull  not  shining,  £  inch  long. 
(Fig.  33.) 


Abundant  in  dooryards, 
barnyards,  upland  as  well  as 
lowland  cultivated  fields, 
ditches  and  borders  of  ponds. 
June-Oct.  The  leaves  are 
very  acrid  and  the  juice 
when  applied  to  the  skin 
sometimes  causes  blisters  or 
ulcers.  Remedies :  pulling  or 
mowing ;  thorough  cultiva- 
tion. 

The  mild  water-pepper  (P.  hydropiperoides  Miehx.),  a  peren- 
nial having  the  leaves  narrower,  not  punctate,  the  stamens  8  and 
the  seed  shining,  is  often  found  with  the  preceding,  while  the 
swamp  smartweed  (P.  cmcrsum  Michx.),  also  a  perennial  with 
much  broader  leaves  and  only  1  or  2  spikes  of  flowers,  is  common 
in  moist  lowlands.  Altogether  12  species  of  true  smartweeds  are 
known  from  the  State,  but  the  five  mentioned  are  the  more  widely 
distributed  and  the  ones  likely  to  be  most  troublesome. 


Fig.  33.     Showing  the  flower  and  the  fruit  with  cross- 
sections  of  latter.     (After  Small.) 


WEEDS    OP    THE    BUCKWHEAT    FAMILY. 


67 


22.     POLYGON  UM  AVICULARE  L. 
X.   1.) 


Knot-grass.    Door-weed.     Goose-grass. 


Stem  prostrate  or  sub- 
erect,  slender,  dull  bluish- 
green,  4-18  inches  long; 
leaves  oblong  or  linear, 
i-|  inch  long,  nearly  ses- 
sile. Flowers  axillary,  in 
clusters  of  1-5,  s  in  a  1 1 
short-stemmed,  greenish 
with  white  or  pink  bor- 
ders ;  stamens  5-8.  Seeds 
dull  black,  1/10  inch  long, 
.'{-angled  and  minutely 
granular.  (Fig.  34.) 

Very  common,  form- 
ing mats  of  spreading, 
wiry,  jointed  stems  in 
yards  and  along  path- 
ways and  roadsides 
where  the  ground  is 
much  trodden;  also  in 
cultivated  lands.  June- 
No  v.  This  is  one  of  the 

social  weeds,  such  as  plantain,  burdock,  catnip,  etc.,  which  accom- 
panied the  white  man  in  his  march  across  and  conquest  of  the 
North  American  Continent.  Holmes  refers  to  it  in  the  lines: 

"Knot-grass,  plantain — all   the  social   weeds, 
Man's  mute  companions,  following  where  he  leads/' 

An  infusion  of  it  was  formerly  supposed  to  retard  bodily  growth 
and  is  referred  to  by  Shakespeare  in  the  lines: 

"(iet  you  gone,  you  dwarf; 
You    minimus,    of   hindering    knot-grass    made." 

The  erect  knot-grass  (P.  crcclnm  L.)  is  also  often  found  with 
the  common  form.  It  is  erect  or  ascending,  1-2  feet  high  and  has 
the  leaves  and  often  the  flowers  yellowish,  the  former  1-2  inches 
long.  Both  species  are  attacked  by  a  mildew  and  sometimes  by  a 
smut. 

Remedies:  pulling  or  mowing  before  the  seeds  ripen;  thorough 
cultivation  with  hoed  crops;  cement  and  concrete;  walks  for  vards. 


Fig.  34.     Showing  the  flower  and  fruit.     (After  Small.) 


68 


THE    INDIANA    WEEP    BOOK. 


23        POLYGONUM   CONVOLVULUS  L. 
I.    1.) 


Fig.  35.     Showing  the  flower  and  fruit.     (After  Small.) 

of  the  flood  plains  and  by  birds  and 
edies:    mowing  and  burning  before 
tivation  with  hoed  crops;   sowing 
clean  seed;  early  fall  plowing  and 
harrowing  to  induce  the  seeds  to 
sprout  before  winter. 


Black  Bindweed.    Wild  Buckwheat.     (A. 


Stem  twining  or  trailing, 
G  inches-3  feet  long,  roughish, 
the  joilits  naked ;  leaves  ovate 
or  arrow-shaped,  pointed,  long- 
stemmed,  1-3  inches  Jong. 
Flowers  in  louse  axillary  clus- 
ters, greenish-white,  drooping ; 
calyx-  5-parted.  adhering  close- 
ly to  the  achene  which  is 
3-angled,  black,  granular,  dull- 
pointed,  |  inch  long.  (Figs.  0, 
a;  35.) 

Common  in  lowlands,  es- 
pecially in  corn-  and  wheat- 
fields,  where  it  often  twines 
about  and  pulls  down  the 
stalks  or  weeds.  June-Sept. 
The  leaves  and  seeds  are 
similar  to  those  of  buck- 
wheat and  the  plant  is  dis- 
tributed widely  by  overflow 
the  droppings  of  cattle.  Rem- 
the  seeds  ripen ;  thorough  cul- 


A 


24. 


Climb- 
Bind- 


POLYGONUM    SCANDENS    L. 

ing    False    Buckwheat. 

weed.  (P.  N.  3.) 
Stem  climbing,  2-25  feet  long, 
rather  stout,  branched.  Leaves  heart- 
shaped,  pointed,  1-6  inches  long.  Flow- 
ers greenish  yellow,  in  numerous  inter- 
rupted leafy  panicles;  calyx  5-parted, 
the  three  outer  segments  strongly 
keeled  and  hi  fruit  winged.  Seeds 
black,  triangular,  1/6  inch  long,  blunt, 
smooth,  shining. 

Common  in  moist  soil,  along 
fence-rows,  borders  of  thickets  and 
cultivated,  fields,  climbing  high 
over  fences,  shrubs,  brush  piles,  etc. 
Julv-Oct.  The  seeds  are  often 


Fig.  36.    Showing  the  flower  and  three-sided 
fruit.    (After  Small.) 


WEEDS   OF   THE   GOOSEFOOT   FAMILY. 


69 


found  with  those  of  clover,  but  are  easily  separated  by  proper  screen, 
ing.     Remedies,  same  as  for  the  preceding. 

25.     FOLYGONUM  SAGITTATUM  L.     Arrow-leaved  Tear-thumb.      (A.  N.  3.) 

Stem  weak,  2-5  feet  Ions,  decumbent  or  climbing  by  recurved  prickles 
which  are  numerous  along  its  four  angles ;  leaves  arrow-shaped,  pointed, 
nearly  sessile,  the  stalks  and  midribs  prickly.  Flowers  in  dense  terminal 
heads ;  sepals  pale  red  with  whitish  margins,  not  keeled.  Seeds  triangular, 
dark  red,  smooth,  shining,  $  inch  long.  (Figs.  8,  c;  30.) 

Borders  of  ditches,  ponds  and  moist  places  generally.  July- 
Oct.  Mowers  and  haymakers  in  low  ground  are  familiar  with  this 
weed,  its  sharp  prickles  being  a  sufficient  excuse  for  its  common 
name.  Remedies:  mowing  and  burning  before  the  seeds  ripen; 
draining  and  cultivation.  The  halberd-leaved  tear-thumb  (P.  ari- 
folium  L.),  differing  in  the  leaves  being  hastate  and  the  seeds  lens- 
shaped,  occurs  with  the  preceding  but  is  much  less  common. 

THE  GOOSEFOOT  FAMILY.— CHENOPODIACEJE. 

Annual  or  perennial  weed-like  or  homely  herbs,  with  mostly 
alternate  leaves.  Flowers  small,  greenish,  very  numerous,  variously 
clustered  but  usually  in  panicled  spikes  or  solitary  in  the  axils  of 
the  leaves;  petals  none;  calyx  2-5  parted;  stamens  as  many  as  or 
fewer  than  the  lobes  of  the  calyx  and  opposite  them ;  ovar^  free 

from  the  calyx,  1-celled,  1 -seeded. 
Fruit  a  utricle,  the  seed-vessel  be- 
ing surrounded  by  a  loose,  thin 
wall  or  bladder-like  sac.  (Fig. 
14,  d.) 

Only  about  16  species  of  the 
family  grow  wild  in  Indiana,  but 
among  them  are  several  weeds 
which  are  rapidly  spreading  or 
occur  throughout  the  State.  The 
beet  and  spinach  are  cultivated 
members  of  the  family.  The  com- 
mon name,  ' '  goosef oot, ' '  refers  to 
the  shape  of  the  leaves. 

20.     CIIKNOPODIUM  ALIHTM  L.     Lamb's 
Quarters.      White   (Joose-foot. 
Pigweed.      (A.   I.   1.) 
Stem   pale    green,    often    striped 

with     purple,     erect,     usually     much 

Fig.  37.    (After  Vasey.) 

branched,     1-8     inches     tall ;     lower 
leaves  ovate,  toothed  or  lobed;  upper  lanceolate,  often  entire;  all  white- 


70  THK    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 

mealy  beneath.  Flowers  hi  simple  or  compound  terminal  and  axillary 
spikes;  lobes  of  calyx  strongly  keeled,  nearly  covering  the  fruit.  Seeds 
circular,  lens-shaped,  black,  shining,  1/20  inch  in  diameter.  (Figs.  0,  b  ; 
14,  rf;  37.) 

Abundant  in  gardens,  yards,  waste  grounds  and  cultivated 
fields,  especially  those  in  which  corn,  potatoes,  etc.,  have  been  laid 
by.  June-Oct,  The  name  pigweed  properly  belongs  to  some  of 
the  members  of  the  next  family.  The  young  plants  and  leaves  are 
in  some  places  used  for  "greens."  The  striped  beet  beetle*  (Sys- 
tcna  tocniata  Say),  both  in  the  mature  and  larval  stages,  feeds  upon 
it.  It  is  also  attacked  by  several  species  of  fungi  and  in  turn  har- 
bors the  melon  louse.  Remedies;  thorough  and  late  cultivation 
with  hoed  crops;  pulling  or  mowing  and  burning  before  the  seeds 
ripen;  harrowing  growing  crops  of  grain  when  the  young  cereals 
are  about  3  inches  high. 

The  maple-leaved  goose  foot  (C.  hybrid  urn  L.),  leaves  without 
mealy  scales,  broad  and  shaped  like  a  maple  leaf,  and  the  upright 
or  city  goose  foot  (C.  urbicum  L.),  leaves  also  without  scales,  broad, 
triangular  and  truncate  at  base,  both  occur  frequently  in  streets, 
alleys,  waste  places  and  borders  of  fields.  They  are  usually  con- 
fused with  lamb's  quarters  and  should  receive  the  same  treatment. 
A  fourth  species,  as  yet  listed  only  from  Tippecanoe  and  Hamil- 
ton counties,  is  the  nettle-leaved  goosefoot  (C.  murale  L.),  also  a 
European  weed,  whose  leaves  are  ovate,  thin,  sharply  and  coarsely 
cut-toothed,  the  spikes  shorter  than  the  leaves  and  loosely  panicled 
in  their  axils. 

27.     riiENOPomuM  AMBROSIOIDES  L.     Mexican  Tea.     American  Wormseed. 

(A.  I.  2.) 

Stem  ascending  or  erect,  grooved,  much  branched,  glandular-pubescent, 
strongly  scented.  2-8  feet  high ;  leaves  oblong  or  lanceolate,  edges  undulate 
or  entire,  1-4  inches  long.  Flowers  in  small  dense,  leafy  axillary  clusters; 
calyx  3-parted.  completely  enclosing  the  fruit.  Seeds  small,  shining, 
kidney-shaped. 

Frequent  in  streets,  alleys  and  along  river  banks  in  the  southern 
two-thirds  of  the  State.  July-Oct.  Remedies  the  same  as  for 
lamb's  quarters. 

The  wormsee.d  (('.'.  anthelminticum  L.),  a  closely  allied  species, 
strongly  scented  and  having  the  spikes  in  large  leafless  terminal 
panicles,  occurs  with  the  Mexican  tea  and  is  often  confused  with  it. 
The  essential  oils  from  the  seeds  of  both  this  and  the  Mexican  tea 
are  used  as  an  anthelmintic  or  vermifuge,  hence  the  common  names 
of  "wormseed."  One  or  the  other  or  both  these  species  are,  in 

*Tbe  No.  2260  of  the  Indiana  Catalogue  of  Beetles. 


WEEDS   OF   THE   GOOSEFOOT    FAMILY. 


71 


the  vicinity  of  towns,  the  prevailing  growth  along  the  immediate 
sloping  banks  of  the  Ohio,  Wabash  and  other  streams.  The  seeds 
of  both  are  salable  at  drug  stores,  the  price  ranging  from  6  to  8 
cents  a  pound.  The  oil  distilled  from  the  seeds  is  worth  about 
$1.50  per  pound. 

2X.     A  TRIPLEX  p  ATU  LA  L.     Spreading  Orache.      (A.  1.1.} 

Stein  much  branched,  halt1  erect,  spreading,  dark  green,  glabrous  or 
somewhat  scurfy;  lower  loaves  lanceolate,  slender-stalked,  usually  toothed 
or  3-lobed  below  the  middle;  upper  ones  linear,  nearly  sessile,  often  entire. 
Flowers  in  clusters  arranged  in  interrupted  leafy  spikes,  small,  greenish, 
the  two  sexes  separate;  staminate  flowers  with  a  .'->-">  parted  calyx  and 
the  same  number  of  stamens;  pistillate  ones  without  calyx,  but  with  2 
more  or  less  united  leaf-like  bracts  at  base  which  partly  or  wholly  enclose 
the  utricle.  Seeds  like  those  of  lamb's  quarters. 

Frequent  along  railway  em- 
bankments, roadsides  and  in  waste 
places  and  old  fields,  especially 
about  cities  and  towns.  June- Aug. 
This  is  an  Eastern  weed  which  is 
gradually  spreading  westward.  In 
Indiana  it  has  been  recorded  from 
Steuben,  Hamilton,  Marion  and 
Tippecanoe  counties  and  is  very 
common  about  Indianapolis  and 
Lafayette.  The  halberd  -  leaved 
orache  (A.  hastata  L.,  Fig.  38)  dif- 
fering mainly  in  having  the  lower 
leaves  only  once  or  twice  as  long 
as  wide,  triangular  with  pointed 
lobes  at  base,  is  also  recorded  from 
Wells  and  Madison  counties.  Both 
form  broad  masses  1  or  2  feet  high 
and  often  several  feet  in  diameter. 
They  are  vile  weeds  of  the  same  character  as  lamb's  quarters  and 
pigweed  and  when  discovered  should  be  destroyed  at  once.  Rem- 
edies: pulling  or  deep  hoe  cutting  before  the  seeds  ripen. 

20.     SALSOLA  THAGUS  L.     Russian  Thistle.     Kussian  factus.      (A.  I.  1.) 

Stem  bushy-branched,  ascending  or  spreading,  1-8  feet  high  and  twice 
as  broad,  the  outer  branches  and  leaves  usually  bright  red  when  full 
grown  ;  leaves  when  young  linear,  2  inches  or  more  i'n  length  and  s  inch 
wide,  spine-tipped;  these  replaced  on  the  later  flowering  branches  by 
sharp  stiff  spines  in  clusters  of  :i.  Flowers  purplish,  solitary  in  the  axils, 
with  a  spiny  bract  each  side;  calyx  membranous,  very  strongly  veined. 


Fig.  38.     (AfterSelby.) 


72 


THE    INDIAN" A    WEED   BOOK. 


Seeds   light   yellow,   conical,   about  the   size   of   clover   seed   and   usually 
covered  with  a  gray  coating.     (Fig.  39.) 

Occurs  sparingly  in  the  north- 
ern third  of  the  State;  there  in- 
troduced by  the  trunk-line  rail- 
ways from  the  northwest,  where 
it  is  a  very  troublesome  weed  in 
prairie  grain  fields.  .  July-Sept. 
It  is  a  tumble-weed,  not  a  thistle, 
and  when  full  grown  becomes 
very  large  and  spreading,  form- 
ing a  top  from  2  to  6  feet  in  dia- 
meter. When  broken  off  it  is 
rolled  over  and  over  by  the  wind, 
scattering  far  and  wide  its  many 
seeds.  Remedies:  pulling,  spud- 
ding or  uprooting  before  seeding; 
cultivating  hoed  crops  until  Au- 
gust; burning  wheat  stubble  and 
other  areas  where  it  grows ;  sow- 
ing forage  crops  and  pasturing 
with  sheep.  Farmers  living  along 
railways  should  keep  an  especial 
lookout  for  the  Russian  thistle  and  should  destroy  at  once  every 
strange  weed  which  bears  any  resemblance  to  the  description  given. 
It  is  estimated  that  a  single  specimen  produces  from  20,000  to  30,- 
000  seeds,  so  that  if  only  one  matures  its  seeds  the  farmers  for 
miles  around  will  suffer  in  a  vear  or  two. 


Fig.  39.  a,  branch  of  the  mature  plant;  b,  seed- 
ling; c,  flower;  d,  flower  *  iewed  from  above  and  in 
front;  e,  seed;  f,  embryo  removed  from  the  seed. 
(After  Dewey.) 


THE  AMARANTH  FAMILY.— AMARANTHACE.E. 

Homely  herbs  with  alternate  or  opposite  simple  leaves.  Flow- 
ers small,  green  or  white,  variously  clustered,  usually  in  terminal 
spikes  or  axillary  heads  and  differing  from  those  of  the  preceding 
family  in  being  surrounded  by  thin  dry  and  membranous  per- 
sistent bracts  which  are  often  colored ;  petals  none ;  calyx  2-5 
parted,  the  parts  usually  distinct ;  stamens  1-5,  mostly  opposite 
the  calyx  lobes;  ovary  1 -celled.  Fruit  a  utricle  of  which  the  cap 
comes  away  as  a  lid  or  bursts  irregularly.  (Fig.  14,  e.) 

Only  11  species  of  the  family  are  known  from  the  State,  all  of 
which  are  weeds  of  high  or  low  degree.  The  showy  coxcombs, 
prince's  feathers  and  "love  lies  bleeding"  of  the  flower  gardens 
are  cultivated  representatives.  The  name  Amaranthus  means 


WEEDS   OF   THE    AMARANTH    FAMILY. 


"never  fading"  and  was  given  these  flowers  by  the  Greeks  on  ac- 
count of  the  dry  unwithering  nature  of  the  showy  bracts.  In 
Europe  they  are  regarded  as  emblems  of  immortality,  a  quality  set 
forth  by  Milton  in  the  lines  wherein  he  speaks  of  the  angels  as- 
sembled before  the  Deity : 

"To  the  ground, 

With  solemn  adoration,  down  they  cast 

Their  crowns,   inwove  with   amaranth  and  gold. 

Immortal  amaranth,  a  flower  which  once 

In  Paradise,  fast  by  the  tree  of  life, 

Began  to  bloom." 

oU.     AMAKANTHUS  HETROFLEXUS  L.     Rough  Pigweed.      (A.  I.  1.) 

Stem  stout,  branched,  light  green,  erect  or  ascending,  1-X  feet  high 
from  a  pink  tap-root;  lower  leaves  ovate,  long-stemmed,  the  upper  lanceo- 
late, pointed.  Flowers  green  in  dense  sessile,  terminal  or  axillary  spikes 
which  are  often  4  inch  thick  ;  bracts  awl-shaped,  twice  as  long  as  the  5 
oblong,  spine-tipped  sepals.  Fruit  or  utricle  thin,  slightly  shorter  than 
the  sepals,  the  top  falling  away  as  a  lid.  Seeds  very  small,  round,  lens 
shaped,  dark  brown,  smooth  and  shining. 

Abundant  throughout  the  State  in  gardens,  waste  places  and 
cultivated  fields.     July-Oet.     Occurring  with  the  rough  pigweed 

in  gardens,  and  perhaps  more  com- 
mon, is  the  slender  pigweed  or  red- 
root  (A.  hybridus  L.,  Fig  4-0.)  It  is 
also  known  as  careless  weed  and  dif- 
fers in  having  the  stem  more  slender, 
often  purplish,  and  springing  from 
a  spindle-shaped  purplish  root,  the 
leaves  smaller,  bright  green,  wavy 
margined  and  long  stalked,  and  the 
spikes  much  more  slender,  not  over 
^  inch  thick,  somewhat  spreading  or 
drooping.  Both  species  are  often  at- 
tacked by  a  white  mold  that  also  at- 
tacks beets.  The  seeds  of  both  ripen 
in  early  autumn,  occur  with  those  of 
grain  and  grass,  and  are  blown  far 
and  wide  over  the  snow.  Remedies : 
shallow  cultivation  ;  thorough  removal 
before  seeding  of  the  weeds  in  corn 
and  potato  fields  and  gardens;  burn- 
ing or  pulling  the  seed-bearing  plants  from  waste  places,  and 
from  fields  before  fall  plowing. 


Fig.  40.    2  and  3,  flowers;   4,  utricle  closed 
5,  same  with  lid  off.     (After  Vasey.) 


74 


THE    INDIANA    AVHKD    BOOK. 


Fig.  41.     (After  Vasey.) 


31.  AMARANTHUS     SPINOSTS     L.       Spiny 

Ainanintli.    lied  or  Spiny  Careless 
Weed.     Sol dier- weed.     (A.  I.  1.) 
Stem  more  branched  and  spreading. 
1-4  feet  high,  often  becoming  red  in  age ; 
leaves  with  a  pair  of  stiff,  sharp  spines, 
i-1   inch  long,  in  the  axils.     Flowers   in 
both  axillary  clusters  and  terminal  droop- 
ing   spikes.       Seeds    round.     lens-shai>ed. 
dark,   very   small,   shining.      (Fig.   41.) 

Common  in  waste  places,  borders 
of  fields,  alleys  and  roadsides  in  the 
southern  two-thirds  of  the  State. 
June-Oct.  Occurs  especially  in  and 
nofir  towns  and  cities  along  the  Ohio 
and  Wabash  rivers  Remedies  the 
same  as  for  the  common  pigweeds. 

32.  AMARANTHUS  BLITOIDES  Wats.     Pros- 

trate   1'igweed.      Low    Amaranth. 
(A.  I.  2.) 

Stem  prostrate  or  spreading,  pale 
green,  6-24  inches  long:  leaves  spoon- 
shai>ed  or  narrowed  below  into  slender  stalks.  Flowers  of  this  and  the 
next  species  hi  small  axillary  clusters  which  are  shorter  than  the  leaf- 
stalks; bracts  awl-shaped,  but  little  longer  than  the  sepals.  Fruit  a  utri'cle 
opening  by  a  lid  as  in  the  other  species.  Seeds  rounded,  lens-shaped.  1/16 
inch  in  diameter  dark  brown,  shining. 

Frequent  along  railways  and  in  waste  places  in  cities  and 
towns.  June-Oct.  Spreading  like  purslane  and  often  forming 
mats.  Remedies  the  same 

33.  AMARANTHUS  GB.ECIZANS  L.  Tumble-weed.  White  I'igweed.  (A.I.I.) 
Stem  erect,  bushy  branched,  whitish.  (!-24  inches  tall ;  leaves  oblong, 
spoon-shaped,  slender  stalked.  Flowers  as  in  the  prostrate  pigweed,  the 
bracts  much  longer  than  the  sepals.  Seeds  one-half  as  huge  and  with  a 
distinct  wing-like  border. 

Frequent  throughout  the  State  along  roadsides,  railways  and  in 
old  fields.  June-Oct.  The  leaves  fall  away  in  autumn  and  the 
branches  bend  in,  forming  a  globular  mass  which  is  broken  off  and 
rolled  along  before  the  wind,  thus  widely  scattering  the  seeds.  One 
such  weed,  5  feet  7  inches  in  circumference,  was  seen  in  Vigo 
County.  From  the  Russian  thistle,  which  has  similar  habits  of 
seed  distribution,  this  true  tumble-weed  may  be  known  by  its  much 
wider  leaves  and  small,  round  and  shining  seeds.  Remedies  the 
same  as  for  the  rough  pigweed. 


WEEDS    OF    THE    POKEWEED    FAMILY. 


75 


THE  POKEWEED  FAMILY.-  PHYTOLACCACEJE. 

Tall  perennial  herbs,  with  large  alternate  ovate-oblong  leaves 
and  small  flowers  in  terminal  racemes,  which  by  the  farther  growth 
of  the  stem  become  opposite  the  leaves.  Petals  none;  sepals  4  or  5 
white;  stamens  10;  ovary  green,  10-celled,  each  cell  with  a  single 
seed.  Fruit  a  globose  fleshy  berry. 

Only  one  member  of  the  family  occurs  in  Indiana,  though  85 
species  are  known,  mostly  from  the  tropics. 

*>4.     PIIYTOLACCA   DKCANDRA  L.     Pokeweed.      Poke-berry.      Scoke.      Pigeon - 

beiry.     Ink-berry.     (P.  X.  2.) 

Stem  stout,  smooth,  erect,  branching,  .H-12  feet  high;  leaves  entire, 
i>-12  inches  long.  Berries  in  racemes  like  those  of  a  grape,  dark  purple 
and  filled  with  crimson  juice.  Seeds  black,  shining,  roundish  or  kidney- 
shaped.  (Fig.  42.) 

This  large  well  known  weed  occurs  throughout  the  State  in  rich 
soil  along  the  borders  of  old  fields,  fence-rows,  roadsides,  etc.  June- 
Sept.  Its  reddish-purple  stems, 
dark  green  leaves,  clusters  of 
white  flowers  and  dark  purple 
berries  make  of  it  a  handsome 
weed — if  a  weed  can  be  so 
termed.  I  have  often  found 
the  small,  shining  black  seeds 
beneath  logs  and  stones  where 
they  have  been  carried  by  mice 
or  shrews,  and  have  frequently 
mistaken  them  for  the  heads  of 
dead  beetles.  The  stem  springs 
from,  a  large  poisonous  root, 
often  4-6  inches  in  diameter, 
and  the  young  stems  and 
leaves  are  sometimes  used  for 
greens  or  eaten  like  asparagus. 
If  so  used,  care  should  be  ta- 

Fig.42.    Flowering  and  fruiting  branch.     (After  keil  t()  Separate  all  parts  of  the 

root  and  the  water,  in  which 

the  shoots  are  first  boiled,  should  be  rejected.  The  whole  plant 
has  a  strong  unpleasant  odor  and  the  pith  of  the  hollow  stem  is  in 
flat  disks  separated  from  each  other  by  cavities.  Remedies:  grub- 
bing or  cutting  below  the  top  of  the  root ;  repeated  mowing  and 
salting. 


76 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


Both  roots  and  berries  of  the  pokcweed  are  used  in  medicine. 
A  Ken tuck\r  boy  whom  the  writer  knew  ate  the  berries  for  cramp 
in  the  stomach,  claiming  that  they  were  a  certain  cure.  If  gathered 
for  sale  they  should  be  collected  in  autumn  and  the  clusters  of 
berries  dried  in  the  shade,  while  the  roots  should  be  cleaned,  cut 
crosswise  into  slices  and  carefully  dried.  They  act  upon  the 
bowels  and  cause  in  time  violent  vomiting.  Extracts  made  from 
them  are  used  for  itch,  other  skin  diseases  and  rheumatism.  The 
dried  root  brings  from  2  to  5  cents  and  the  berries  about  5  cents 
per  pound. 

THE  CARPET-WEED  FAMILY.— AIZOACE^. 

Prostrate,  and  branching  herbs,  with  small  whitish  flowers 
borne  in  the  axils  of  the  whorled  leaves.  Petals  none;  calyx 

5-parted :  stamens  3-5 ;  ovary  3- 
celled,  forming  in  fruit  a  capsule 
which  splits  lengthwise.  Seeds  very 
small,  kidney-shaped  and  marked 
with  lines. 

35.  MOLLUGO  VERTICILLATA  L.  Carpet- 
weed.  Indian  Cliickweed.  (A. 
N.  2.) 

Stem  spreading  and  forming  circa 
lar  mats,  sometimes  2  feet  in  diameter ; 
leaves  in  whorls  of  fives  or  sixes, 
spoon-shaped  or  linear,  entire.  Sepals 
oblong,  white  on  the  inner  side,  shorter 
than  the  egg-shaped  capsules  which  are 
many  seeded.  (Fig.  43.) 

Frequent  in  bare  sandy  spots,  cultivated  fields  and  gardens,  and 
springing  from  the  cracks  between  bricks  in  sidewalks.  May-Get. 
Remedies :  pulling  or  hoe-cutting  before  the  seeds  ripen ;  sowing 
winter  annuals  after  corn  and  potatoes. 

THE  PURSLANE  FAMILY.— PORTULACACE.E. 

Fleshy  tasteless  herbs  with  entire  leaves.  Flowers  regular, 
sepals  2 ;  petals  4  or  5 ;  stamens  5-20 ;  styles  2-8  united  below  the 
middle.  Pod  1 -ceiled,  with  few  or  many  seeds  rising  on  stalks 
from  the  base.  Only  6  species  of  the  family  are  listed  from  the 
State,  two  of  which,  called  "spring  beauties,"  are  among  the  earli- 
est and  prettiest  of  our  springtime  wild  flowers.  Here  belongs  also 
the  cultivated  portulaca  and  the  following  common  garden  weed : 


Fig.  43.     Showing  a  flower  and  a  cross-section 
of  fruit.     (After  Britton  and  Brown.) 


WEED?!    OF    TTTK    PURSLANE   FAMILY. 


£0.     PORTULACV  OLERACEA  L.     Purslane.     Pussley.     (A.  I.  1.) 

Prostrate,  smooth,  freely  branching  from  a  deep  central  root ;  branches 
4-10  inches  long;  leaves  alternate,  wedge-shaped,  rounded  at  apex.  Flow- 
ers pale  yellow,  sessile  in  the  axils.  Pods  globular,  opening  by  a  little  lid. 
Si1* 'ds  very  small,  black,  kidney-shaped,  marked  with  a  line  network. 
(Figs.  13,  c;  44.) 

Very  common  in  gardens,  dooryards  and  cultivated  grounds, 
especially  in  sandy  and  rich  soils.  May— Nov.  Flowers  numerous, 

opening  only  in  the 
morning  sunshine,  then 
closing  once  for  all.  In 
England  purslane  is  used 
extensively  as  a  pot-herb 
and  for  salads,  and  serves 
as  does  parsley  to  garnish 
dishes  of  meats,  etc. 
Hogs  everywhere  are 
very  fond  of  it.  It  is  at- 
tacked by  a  white  mold 
which  in  rainy  seasons 
serves  to  keep  it  in  check. 
Beneath  its  fleshy  foliage 
it  harbors  insects  of 
many  kinds,  among 
which  are  the  melon 
plant  louse  and  the  corn- 
root  louse.  Onion  and 
melon  raisers  have  much 
trouble  with  it,  as  it 
grows  rapidly  and  ripens  its  seeds  after  cultivation  of  the  crops 
has  ceased.  Remedies :  close  hoe  cultivation,  especially  very  early 
and  again  late  in  the  season;  seeding  with  winter  annuals  after 
hood  crops. 


Fig.  44.     1,  seed;  2,  fruit  or  pyxis  closed;  3,  same  open. 
(After  Vasey.) 


THE  PINK  FAMIIA.— CARYOPHYLLACE.K. 

Annual  or  perennial  herbs  with  the  joints  of  the  stems  often 
swollen  and  sometimes  sticky;  leaves  opposite,  entire.  Flowers 
usually  either  solitary  on  long  peduncles  or  numerous  in  flat- 
topped  cymes ;  sepals  4  or  5,  separate  or  united  into  a  tube ;  petals 
as  many  as  the  sepals  or  none ;  stamens  twice  as  many  as  sepals  or 
fewer;  pistils  1,  1 -celled,  the  ovules  united  to  a  central  column. 
Fruit  usually  a  capsule  opening  by  valves  on  the  sides. 


78 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


About  30  species  of  the  family  grow  wild  in  the  State,  and 
mostly  belong  to  two  groups,  viz.:  (a)  the  cockles  which  have  the 
sepals  united  into  a  tube,  many  of  them  being  also  called  "catch- 
flies,"  on  account  of  the  sticky  or  viscid  secretions  on  joints  of 
stems  or  calyx  which  they  exude  to  present  ants,  small  beetles  and 
other  honey-eating  intruders  which  cannot  pollenize  from  creep- 
ing up  the  stalks;  (ft)  the  duckweeds  and  sandworts,  small  white- 
flowered  herbs  abundant  in  woods  and  along  the  margins  of  lakes 
and  streams,  and  having  the  sepals  distinct  or  united  only  at  the 
base.  With  us  only  4  members  of  the  family  are  as  yet  trouble- 
some. 

ST.     AGROSTEMMA  G  mi  AGO  L.     Corn  Cockle.     Purple  Cockle.     (A.  I.  1.) 

Stem  erect,  1-3  feet  high,  simple 
or  with  few  erect  branches,  clothed 
with  long,  soft  appressed  hairs;  leaves 
linear,  acute.  Flowers  solitary  on  long 
axillary  peduncles;  petals  pink  or 
purple- red,  showy ;  calyx  lobes  linear, 
much  longer  than  the  petals.  Seeds 
black,  kidney-shaped,  J  inch  across, 
prettily  marked  with  spiny  ribs.  (Fig. 
45.) 


Common  in  grain  fields,  espe 
cially  those  of  wheat  and  rye ;  also 
along  railways,  fence-rows,  etc. 
May-Sept.  The  seed  contains  a 
poisonous  principle,  and  if  bread 
be  made  of  flour  containing  a  high 
percentage  of  the  ground  seed  it  is 
often  fatal  to  poultry  and  domestic 
animals,  and  in  man  produces  a 
great  irritation  of  the  digestive  or- 
gans. Remedies  for  the  weed: 

hand  pulling  or  spudding  from  the  wheat  fields  intended  for  seed ; 

careful  screening  of  seed  wheat,  using  a  screen  of  8  meshes  to  the 

inch;   proper  rotation  of  crops. 

38.  SILENE  ANTIRRHINA  L.  Sleepy  Catchfly.  Tarry  Cockle.  (A.  N.  2.) 
Stem  slender,  erect  or  ascending,  simple  or  branched  above,  8-30 
inches  high  ;  basal  and  lower  leaves  spoon-shaped,  narrowed  into  a  stalk. 
1-2  inches  long;  upper  leaves  linear  and  gradually  reduced  to  awl-shaped 
bracts.  Flowers  in  a  loose  terminal  cluster;  calyx  egg-shaped,  much  en- 
larged by  the  ripening  pod,  its  teeth  acute;  petals  pink,  broader  and 
notched  above.  Seeds  dark  brown,  kidney-shaped,  marked  with  rows  of 
minute  tubercles. 


Fig.  45.  a,  sprays  showing  flowers  and 
seed  capsule;  b,  seed  three  times  natural  size. 
(After  Chesnut.) 


WEEDS    OF    THE    PINK    FAMILY.  79 

Frequent  in  light  or  sandy  soils,  especially  in  grain  fields  or 
waste  places.  Apr.-Sept.  The  stem  is  dark  and  viscid  or  sticky  at 
or  just  below  each  joint  and  the  flowers  open  for  a  short  time  only 
in  sunshine.  The  seeds  are  frequent  among  those  of  clover  or 
grass  and  in  southwestern  Indiana  the  plant  is  very  common  in 
wheat  and  rye.  Remedies:  sowing  clean  seed;  pulling  when  not 
too  common,  to  prevent  the  ripening  of  the  seed ;  increased  fertili- 
zation. 

The  sticky  cockle  or  night-flowering  catchfly  (8.  noctiflora  L.) 
having  3  styles  and  large  yellowish-white  or  pinkish  petals,  and  the 
white  cockle  or  white  campion  (Lychnis  alba  Mill.)  with  5  styles 
and  pure  white  petals,  are  two  other  members  of  the  family  re- 
corded from  the  State  which  may  develop  into  troublesome  weeds, 
as  they  have  done  elsewhere.  Both  have  sticky  stem-joints  and 
large  blossoms  which  open  only  at  night. 

"In  addition  to  the  sticky  gum  the  stem  of  these  catchflies  is 
more  or  less  covered  with  fine  hairs,  both  of  which  characters  aid 
them  in  baffling  unwelcome  wingless  visitors,  while  the  long  tubes  of 
the  corollas  effectually  keep  out  all  flying  insects  except  the  few 
whose  visits  the  plants  desire.  As  if  so  many  precautions  were  not 
enough  the  mouths  of  the  tubes  above  the  stamens  are  obstructed 
by  five  little  valves  or  scales,  one  being  attached  to  the  claw  of  each 
petal.  These  scales  can  be  easily  bent  down  by  the  large  and  long 
proboscis  of  bees  and  moths  but  not  by  the  little  thieving  flies 
against  whose  incursions  the  flowers  are  so  anxious  to  guard  them- 
selves." — Grant  Allen. 

?{).     SAPONARIA  OFFICINALIS   L.     Bouncing  Bet.     Soapwort.     Hedge  Pink. 

(P.  I.  2.) 

Erect,  smooth,  sparingly  branched.  1-2  feet  high ;  leaves  ovate  or  oval, 
2  ,'>  inches  long,  1  inch  wide.  Flowers  large,  showy,  pinkish  or  white,  in 
dense  terminal  clusters.  Seeds  black,  smooth,  kidney-shaped  with  a  beak 
1/10  inch  long.  (Fig.  10,  a.) 

Throughout  the  State,  escaped  from  gardens  and  rapidly  be- 
coming an  annoying  weed,  especially  in  sandy  cultivated  fields  and 
along  banks  and  railways.  June- Sept.  This  buxom  country 
cousin  of  the  carnation  spreads  by  underground  stems  and  is 
therefore  difficult  to  eradicate.  The  juice  of  the  stem,  when  mixed 
with  water,  produces  a  soapy  effect  and  has  cleansing  qualities, 
whence  the  generic  name.  "Remedies:  mowing  twice  each  season 
for  a  year  or  two  just  before  flowering;  salting  in  early  spring; 
cultivation,  especially  hoeing. 


80 


THE    INDIANA    WEED   BOOK. 


Fig.  46.     Showing  flower,  fruit  and  seed. 
(After  Britton  and  Brown.) 


40.  ALSINE  MEDIA  L.     Common  Chickweed.     (A.  I.  2.) 

Spreading  or  half  erect,  tufted,  much  branched,  4-12  inches  long. 
smooth  except  a  line  of  hairs  along  the  stem;  leaves  oval,  £  to  2J  inches 

long,  the  upper  sessile.  Flowers  very 
small,  white,  the  petals  2-parted,  shorter 
than  the  calyx.  Capsule  egg-shaped, 
longer  than  the  calyx ;  seeds  brown, 
kidney-shaped,  flattened,  1/24  inch 
across,  the  sides  coarsely  tuberculate. 
(Figs.  12,  7t  and  40.) 

Frequent  in  rich  moist  soil  in 
gardens,  lawns,  meadows  and  pas- 
tures. Jan.— Dec.  A  winter  annual, 
blooming  at  all  seasons.  In  some 
plaees  used  as  a  barometer  as  it  ex- 
pands its  flowers  fully  when  fine 
weather  is  to  follow  but  "if  it 
should  shut  up,  then  the  traveler  is 
to  put  on  his  great  coat."  In  Eu- 
rope it  is  much  used  for  feeding 
cage-birds,  which  are  very  fond  of  both  seed  and  leaves.  Remedies : 
early  and  thorough  spring  cultivation;  reseeding  lawns;  crowd- 
ing out  by  some  winter-growing  crop,  as  rye  or  crimson  clover. 

THE  CROWFOOT  OR  BUTTERCUP  FAMILY.— RANUNCULACEJE. 

Annual  or  perennial  herbs  with  acrid  sap ;  leaves  usually  alter- 
nate, often  compound.  Flowers  with  the  parts  all  distinct  and 
unconnected;  petals  3-15,  sometimes  wanting,  in  which  case  the 
calyx  is  colored  like  the  corolla ;  sepals  the  same  number,  often 
falling  when  unfolding;  stamens  numerous;  ovaries  1— many,  1- 
celled,  usually  1-seeded.  Fruit  of  our  w-eeds  an  achene.  (Fig. 
14,  /,  </.) 

About  50  species  of  the  family  occur  in  Indiana.  Among  them 
are  many  of  our  common  wild  flowers  of  early  spring  and  summer, 
as  the  liverworts,  marsh-marigolds,  larkspurs,  columbines,  bane- 
berries,  anemones,  clematis,  buttercups  and  meadow-rues.  Most  of 
these  are  harmless  plants,  covering  the  bare  places  of  mother  earth 
with  their  green  leaves  and  posies  gay.  "With  us  only  one  may  as 
yet  be  listed  as  a  wreed,  though  others  of  its  kind  occasionally 
spread  in  low,  wet  pastures. 

41.  RANUNCULUS  ABORTIVUS  L.     Small-flowered  Crowfoot.     Kidney-leaved 

Crowfoot.     (B.  N.  3.) 
Stem  erect,  branching,  glabrous;  root-leaves  thick,  kidney-  or  heart- 


WEEDS  OP  THE  CROWFOOT  FAMILY. 


81 


shaped,  long-stalked,  toothed  or  eremite;  stem  leaves  sessile,  divided  into 
8-5  oblong  or  linear  lobes.     Flowers  very  small ;   petals   yellow,   oblong, 

shorter  than  the  reflexed  lobes  of  calyx. 

Head  of  fruit  globose. 

Common  in  moist  soil,  in  woods, 
meadows,  gardens,  lawns  and  culti- 
vated fields.  March-Sept.  Espe- 
cially troublesome  to  strawberry 
growers  and  owners  of  well  kept 
lawns.  Remedies:  pulling  and  hoe 
cutting;  drainage;  thorough  culti- 
vation. 

The  hooked  crowfoot  (R.  rccur- 
vatus  Poir.),  having  the  kidney - 
shaped  leaves  all  lobed  and  divided, 
the  plant  more  or  less  pubescent  and 
the  beaks  of  the  achenes  strongly 
hooked,  is  also  common  in  woods  and 
pastures.  The  tall  or  meadow  but- 
tercup (R.  acris  L.,  Fig.  47),  with 
the  flowers  large,  showy  yellow,  1 
inch  broad,  calyx  spreading  and 
roots  fibrous,  occurs  frequently  in  moist  meadows  and  pastures  and 
is  in  some  States  a  pernicious  weed.  Its  juice  is  very  acrid  and 
stock  give  it  a  wide  range.  Remedies  the  same. 

THE  MUSTARD  FAMILY.— CRUCIFER.E. 

Herbs,  mostly  annual  or  biennial,  with  a  pungent  peppery 
juice;  leaves  alternate,  usually  narrow  and  deeply  lobed,  often 
forming  a  rosette  at  the  surface  of  the  ground,  from  which  spring 
the  slender  flowrer-bearing  stems.  Flowers  usually  in  racemes, 
white  or  yellow  in  color ;  sepals  4 ;  petals  4,  generally  narrowed  at 
base  arid  placed  opposite  each  other  in  pairs;  stamens  usually  6T 
4  long,  2  short;  pistils  1,  2-celled.  Fruit  a  silique  which  varies 
greatly  in  form  and  size  and  bears  numerous  seeds.  (Fig.  14,  i.) 

About  55  species  of  the  family  are  known  from  the  State,  most 
of  which  are  weeds.  They  may  usually  be  easily  recognized  by  the 
sepals  and  petals  being  in  fours,  in  opposite  pairs,  thus  forming  a 
cross — whence  the  family  name  Cruc-ifcrrp.  On  the  long  racemes 
the  flowers  are  issually  to  be  found  in  all  stages,  from  the  unopened 
buds  above  to  the  ripened  seed-pods  below.  When  crushed  the 
foliage  often  gives  off  a  decided  odor,  Those  which  are  weeds 


Fig.  47.    Tall  or  meadow  buttercup.     (After 
Vasey.) 


Jr.] 


si 


THE    INDIANA    WHEl)    BOOK. 


occur  mostly  in  grain  fields,  gardens,  lawns  and  meadows.  Many 
of  the  seeds  have  an  oily  covering  which  prevents  decay  and  enables 
them  to  retain  vitality  for  years,  Cultivated  members  are  cabbage, 
turnip,  cauliflower  and  radish. 

42.     LEPIDIUM  VIBGIXICUM  L.     Wild  Pepper-grass.     Tongue-grass.     (Canary- 

grass.      (A.  N.  2.) 

Erect,  smooth,  much  branched,  0-15  inches  high  ;  leaves  tai>ering  to 
base,  the  upi>er  linear  or  lanceolate,  entire;  lower  spoon-shaped,  more  or 
less  notched  on  sides.  Flowers  small,  white;  stamens  only  '2.  Pods 
small,  rounded  or  oval,  notched  at  tip;  seeds  light  brown,  flattened,  1/10 
inch  wide,  half  as  long,  egg-shaped  with  a  very  distinct  border.  (Fig.  48.) 

Common  everywhere  in  dooryards,  waste  grounds,  fields  and 
gardens.  April-Oct.  Very  troublesome  at  times  in  clover,  espe- 

cially in  light  sandy  soil  after  the 
first  crop  is  cut  ;  the  seeds  separable 
from  those  of  the  clover  only  by  care- 
ful screening.  Many  of  the  seeds 
germinate  in  autumn  forming  flat  ro- 
settes with  a  single  central  tap-root, 
from  which  the  flowers  and  seeds  of 
early  spring  are  produced.  Spar- 
rows of  all  kinds  are  very  fond  of 
the  pods  and  eat  vast  numbers  of 
them.  Remedies:  thorough  and  con- 
tinuous cultivation;  disc  harrowing 
in  late  fall  or  early  spring  ;  hand  pull- 
ing from  lawns;  spraying. 

The  apetalous  pepper-grass  (L. 
«/*'«'«»»  Willd.),  basal  leaves  more 
cut-lobed  and  petals  minute  or  want- 
ing, and  the  field  pepper-grass  (L.  campestre  L.),  downy  or  hoary 
pubescent,  leaves  clasping  the  stem,  pod  spoon-shaped,  both  occur 
in  the  State  and  will  be  more  common.  Remedies  the  same. 

48.     SISYMBBIUM  OFFICINALE  L.     Hedge  Mustard.     (A.  I.  2.) 

Erect  with  rigid  spreading  branches.  1-3  feet  high  ;  leaves  cut-lobed, 
the  lower  segments  turned  backward,  the  upper  leaves  nearly  sessile. 
Flowers  small,  pale  yellow.  Pods  slender,  erect,  awl-shaped,  *  inch  long, 
pressed  closely  against  the  stem  ;  seeds  brown,  oblong,  cylindrical  on  back, 
grooved  on  the  other  side,  1/10  inch  long,  one-third  as  wide. 

Common  in  waste  places  and  fallow  or  abandoned  fields.  April- 
Dec.  The  seed  occurs  in  clover  and  grass  seed  and  hay.  Remedies  : 
frequent  mowing;  increased  fertilization  and  cultivation.  It,  as 


WEEDS  OP  THE  MUSTARD  FAMILY. 


well  as  the  next  two  species,  are  hosts  for  the  "club-root  fungus" 
which  attacks  cabbage  and  turnips  and  all  three  should  therefore 

be  kept  away  from  these  vege- 
tables. 

Differing  in  having  cream 
colored  flowers  and  much  longer, 
widely  spreading  pods  is  a 
closely  allied  species,  the  tum- 
bling mustard  (S.  altissimum 
L.,  Fig.  49),  a  European  plant 
which  is  a  bad  weed  in  the 
grain  fields  of  Canada  and  the 
Northwestern  States.  In  Indi- 
ana it  has  been  recorded  from 
six  counties  and  will  doubtless 
be  found  to  be  frequent  in  the 
northern  portion,  especially 
along  the  trunk  line  railways. 
The  pods  are  2-4  inches  long 
and  each  one  contains  120  or 

Fig. 49.    Tumbling  mustard;  a,  base  of  stem  of  annual     rnore    <jpprl«f        On    n    ^ino'lp    nl'int 
plant;  b,  one  of  the  lower  leaves;  c,  flower  X  Vfa   d,     ]  CLS< 

branch  with  flower  and  pods.     (After  Dewey.)  12,500    pods   WCFC    OUCC    COUnted, 

so  that  that  plant  alone  produced  1,500,000  seeds.  When  the  seed? 
are  ripe  the  whole  head  of  the  plant  breaks  off  and,  as  a  tumble- 
weed,  it  may  in  winter  be  blown  for  miles,  scattering  a  few  seeds 
in  many  places.  It  is  liable  to  be  introduced  anywhere  in  baled 
hay,  and  is  especially  liable  to  be  found  about  elevators  and  railway 
yards.  Isolated  plants  should  be  pulled  before  the  seeds  ripen.  If 
in  numbers  they  should  be  mowed  or  cut  with  hoe  in  June  and 
again  in  August. 

44.     BRASSICA  ARVENSIS  L.     Charlock.     Wild  Mustard.     (A.  I.  1.) 

Erect,  branching  above,  1-2  feet  high ;  rough  with  scattered  stiff 
hairs;  lower  leaves  stalked,  cut-lobed ;  upper  ones  mostly  sessile,  feebly 
notched  or  entire.  Flowers  yellow,  fragrant.  Pods  long,  cylindrical, 
knotty,  lx>me  on  stout  steins  and  with  a  long  two-edged  beak  which  is 
empty  or  1 -seeded ;  seeds  15  or  more  in  a  pod,  spherical,  larger  than  those 
of  the  black  mustard.  (Fig  50.) 

Frequent  in  the  southern  half  of  State,  less  so  in  northern 
counties.  May-Sept.  Occurs  in  meadows  and  grain  fields,  espe- 
cially those  of  oats,  the  seeds  remaining  with  them  when  threshed. 
The  seeds  have  great  vitality,  often  remaining  buried  for  years  or 
until  conditions  are  right  for  successful  growth.  It  grows  very 


84 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


Fig.  50.     (After  Vassy.) 


same 


rapidly   and  matures   an   immense  number  of  seeds.     Remedies : 
clean  seed;  surface  burning  in  fall  or  spring;  hand  pulling  and 

cultivation  of  hoed  crops;  spraying 
with  iron  sulphate  (copperas)  solu- 
tion; harrowing  stubble  as  soon  as 
crop  is  cut  to  start  a  rapid  autumn 
growth  of  the  weed,  then  feeding  off 
with  sheep ;  harrowing  young  wheat 
in  autumn  after  it  has  a  good  start. 

45.     BRASSICA   NIGRA  L.     Black  Mustard. 

(A.  I.  ?,) 

Erect,  tall,  2-7  feet  high,  prickly  with 
short  stiff  hairs;  lower  leaves  with  a 
large  terminal  and  1-A  smaller  lateral 
lobes.  Flowers  yellow.  Pods  erect,  closely 
appressed  to  stem,  4-sided,  smooth,  \  inch 
long,  ending  in  a  slender  beak ;  seeds  dark 
brown,  very  pungent,  1/25  of  an  inch 
long,  globular,  finely  pitted.  (Fig.  51.) 

Common  in  fields  and  waste  places.    June-Nov.    Remedies 
as  for  charlock. 

The  seeds  of  both  this  and  the 
white  mustard  (Sinapis  albalj.)  when 
ground  are  used  extensively  in  medi- 
cine for  plasters,  poultices,  emetics, 
etc.  More  than  5  million  pounds  are 
imported  each  year,  the  price  aver- 
aging about  5  cents  per  pound.  The 
white  mustard  is  a  smaller  plant,  1-2 
feet  high,  flowers  larger  and  paler  yel- 
low, the  pods  rough-hairy,  with  long, 
flat  sword-shaped  beaks;  seeds  pale 
yellow,  smooth,  larger  and  less  pun- 
gent than  those  of  the  black  mustard. 
In  collecting  the  seeds  for  sale  the 
tops  should  be  pulled  when  most  of 
the  pods  are  ripe  but  before  they  be- 
gin to  burst  open,  placed  on  a  clean 
dry  floor  or  shelf  until  fully  ripe, 
then  shaken  over  a  sheet  or  canvas.  Fig.  51. 

40.    BURSA  BURSA-PASTORIS  L,.   Shepherd's  Purse.   Mother's  Heart.    (A.  I.  1.) 

Erect,   branching,   0-20  inches   high ;   lower  leaves  tufted,   forming  a 

rosette,  cut-lobed  or  toothed  like  those  of  the  dandelion;  stem  leaves  few, 


WEEDS  OF  TTTE  MUSTARD  FAMILY. 


85 


arrow-shaped.  Flowers  small,  white.  Pods  heart-shaped  or  triangular, 
broad  at  top,  notched  at  apex  then  narrowed  to  base,  borne  on  slender 
stalks;  seeds  numerous,  light  brown,  oblong,  1/20  inch  in  length,  half  as 
wide.  (Fig.  52.) 

Common  everywhere  in  waste  places,  gardens  and  old  cultivated 
fields.  March  10-Nov.  25.  A  winter  annual  whose  green  rosettes 

are  very  pretty  at  that  season,  but 
Avhose  spreading  stems  become  an 
eyesore  in  early  spring.  It  is  also 
a  host  for  the  club-root  fungus.  At 
all  times  of  the  year  and  every- 
where, when  it  is  not  actually  freez- 
ing, this  plant  is  growing.  Each 
pod  contains  about  20  seeds.  When 
put  in  water  they,  as  well  as  those 
of  most  other  mustards,  produce  a. 
large  amount  of  mucilage  and  a 
covering  of  rather  long  and  very 
fine  transparent  hairs.  This,  by  ad- 
hesion to  passing  objects,  aids  in 
their  distribution.  A  single  plant 
will  ripen  20,000  of  the  seeds,  so 
that  it  has  enormous  power  of 
propagation.  It  will  thrive  any- 
where, sometimes  taking  entire 
(After  possession  of  the  soil  from  which  it 
draws  a  large  amount  of  moisture. 
Remedies:  constant  hoeing  and  cultivation;  hand  pulling  from 
lawns ;  plowing  or  disk  harrowing  in  late  autumn ;  spraying  with 
iron  sulphate  solution;  cutting  out  the  fall  rosettes  with  hoe  or 
spud. 

The  name  "mother's  heart"  is  common  in  England.  The  chil- 
dren hold  out  the  seed  pouch  to  their  companions  inviting  them  to 
"take  a  hand  o'  that."  It  immediately  cracks,  and  then  follows 
the  triumphant  shout  "you've  broken  your  mother's  heart."  In 
Switzerland  the  same  plant  is  offered  to  a  person  with  the  request 
to  pluck  one  of  the  pods.  Should  he  do  so  the  onlookers  exclaim: 
"you  have  stolen  a  purse  of  gold  from  your  father  and  mother." 

THE  ROSE  FAMILY.— ROSACES. 

Herbs,  shrubs  or  trees  with  regular  perfect  flowers;  leaves  al- 
ternate, simple  or  compound,  with  stipules  usually  present.  Calyx 
5-lobed  with  the  disc  of  the  flower  firmly  attached ;  petals  equal  in 


Fig.  52.    a,  seed  natural  size;  b,  same  X  6. 
Selby.) 


86  THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 

number  to  the  calyx  lobes  and  distinct,  or  none ;  stamens  numerous, 
distinct ;  ovaries  1-many,  1-celled.  Fruit  of  various  forms,  mostly 
capsules  opening  by  a  single  valve,  or  achenes. 

A  large  and  important  family  which  formerly  included  the 
apples,  pears,  cherries,  etc.  Recently,  however,  it  has  been  divided 
into  three  families,  the  Rosacea?  as  above  restricted;  the  Pomacea4, 
including  the  apples,  pears,  June-berries  and  red-haws;  and  the 
Drupacea1,  comprising  the  plums,  cherries  and  peaches.  To  the 
Rosaceie,  as  now  defined,  belong  the  meadow-sweets,  raspberries 
blackberries,  strawberries,  cinquefoils,  avens,  agrimonies,  roses  and 
many  other  forms.  About  50  members  of  the  family  are  known  to 
grow  wild  in  Indiana,  but  only  a.  few  of  them  intrude  upon  culti- 
vated or  pasture  lands  in  such  numbers  as  to  be  called  weeds,  and 
of  those  which  do  none  belong  to  the  weeds  of  the  first  class. 

47.     RUBUS    ALLEGHENIENSIS    Porter.      Wild    Blackberry.      Common    Brier. 

Bramble.      (P.   N.   3.) 

Shrubby,  branched,  erect  or  recurved,  3-10  feet  high,  armed  with 
stout  recurved  prickles;  leaves  compound;  leaflets  3-o,  ovate,  pubescent 
beneatb,  coarsely  toothed.  Flowers  white,  terminal.  Fruit  a  collection  of 
small  black  drupes  persistent  on  a  fleshy  receptacle,  broadly  oval,  very 
pulpy. 

This  and  several  closely  allied  species  of  high  blackberries  are 
found  throughout  the  State,  being  much  more  abundant  on  the  hill 
slopes  of  the  southern  half.  They  occur  mostly  in  poor  clayey  soil 
along  roadsides,  fence-rows  and  in  old  neglected  fields  and  pastures, 
often  taking  complete  possession  of  the  ground.  It  is  only  where 
by  neglect  the  bushes  are  allowed  to  spread  that  they  become  a  nui- 
sance and  crowd  out  the  blue-grass  and  other  forage  crops.  A  rust 
and  numerous  insects  that  prey  upon  cultivated  barries  are  har- 
bored by  the  wild  canes,  so  that  the  two  should  not  be  allowed  to 
grow  in  close  proximity.  Remedies :  mowing  several  times  in  late 
summer;  increased  fertilization  and  cultivation. 

Flowering  in  June,  the  fruit  of  the  blackberry  is  ripe  in  July 
and  August,  and  where  desired  for  the  table  a  few  of  the  bushes 
are  a  valuable  asset  to  the  farm.  These  berries  are  the  fruit  of 
the  earth,  an  offering  of  nature  in  her  generous  moods,  her  dessert 
of  wild  fruit,  freely  given,  than  which  there  is  no  better.  Out  of 
the  clay  and  other  materials  of  poor  hillside  soils  the  blackberry 
canes  do  fashion  through  the  chemistry  of  their  cells,  this  juicy 
pulp,  sweeten  it  to  our  tastes,  then  offer  it  free  for  the  taking.  Is 
it  not  a  miracle  of  nature,  a  miracle  greater  than  any  accredited  to 
man,  this  juggling  of  earthy  ingredients,  this  producing  of  luscious 


WEEDS   OF    THE    ROSE    FAMILY. 


87 


berries  by  these  thorny  brambles?  Moreover,  they  offer  us  a  cure 
for  over-eating,  for  a  decoction  made  by  steeping  an  ounce  of  the 
root  in  a  pint  of  water  is  a  valuable  remedy  in  dysentery,  cholera 
infantum  and  other  bowel  troubles. 

However,  it  is  not  so  much  for  humans  as  for  birds  that  this 
fruit  is  produced  by  the  blackberry  canes.  Each  of  the  little  fruits, 
which  are  clustered  together  around  the  fleshy  receptacle,  is  in 
reality  a  nut  which  has  clothed  itself  in  an  outer  coat  of  sweet 
colored  pulp,  This  pulp  is  a  bonus  which  the  plant  throws  in  to 
induce  the  bird  to  swallow  the  nut.  Within  the  nutlets,  and  pro- 
tected by  their  hard  indigestible  stones  or  shells,  are  the  true  seeds 
which  are  scattered  far  and  wide  by  the  birds.  The  same  plan  o(' 
surrounding  the  nut  by  juicy  pulp  is  seen  in  the  peach,  plum  and 
cherry,  where  it  is  more  evident  to  sight  on  account  of  the  larger 
size  of  the  nut  or  so-called  seed. 

The  dewberry  or  low  running  blackberry  (R.  procumbens  Muhl.) 
is  very  common  in  old  meadows  and  dry  upland  fields  in  southern 
Indiana.  Its  long  trailing  stems  ofte'n  become  mixed  with  the  hay 
*:rid  so  prove  a  great  nuisance  to  haymakers  and  barefooted  boys. 
Remedies  the  same. 

48.  POTENTILLA  cANADENsis  L.  Common  Ciiiqiiefoil.  Five-finger.  (1*.  X.  3.) 
Stems  half  erect  or  prostrate,  8  inches  to  2  feet  long,  spreading  by 

slender  runners ;  leaves  composed  of  5  leaflets  which  are  digitate  or  spring- 
ing from  a  common  point;  these  ob- 
long, obtuse  at  apex,  cut-toothed. 
Flowers  axillary,  solitary,  yellow, 
showy;  petals  broadly  oval;  stamens 
about  20.  Achenes  numerous,  smooth. 
(Figs.  0,  1)',  53.) 

Common  in  diy  soils,  espe- 
cially in  old  "worn-out"  fields  in 
southern  Indiana ;  much  less  so  in 
the  northern  portions.  May-July. 
Often  called  "wild  strawberry," 
which  its  foliage  closely  resembles, 
but  the  fruit  not  fleshy.  It  is 
especially  prevalent  on  sloping  hill- 
sides in  company  with  the  dew- 
berry, blackberry,  mull  en,  etc.  Its 
presence  indicates  that  the  soil  is 
sterile  or  lacking  in  some  element  of  fertility.  Remedies:  fertiliza- 
tion and  cultivation  with  forage  plants,  as  clover  or  cow-peas; 
sheep-grazing. 


Fig.  53.     (After  Watson.) 


88  THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 

The  rough  or  tall  cinquefoil  (P.  monspeliensis  L.),  stem  1-3 
feet  high,  erect,  rough-pubescent,  leaflets  3,  flowers  small,  yellow, 
numerous  in  terminal  cymes,  is  frequent  in  moist  soils  throughout 
the  State,  being  especially  troublesome  in  clover  fields.  It  flowers 
from  June  to  August.  Remedies:  close  cutting  in  spring  or  early 
summer :  cultivation. 

THE  PEA  FAMILY.— PAPILIONACE^E. 

Herbs,  shrubs,  vines  or  trees  with  alternate,  mostly  compound, 
stipulate  leaves.  Flowers  butterfly-shaped,  like  those  of  the  sweet 
pea,  mainly  in  spikes,  heads  or  racemes;  calyx  4-5-toothed  or  cleft; 
petals  usually  consisting  of  a  broad  upper  one  (the  standard  or 
banner),  two  side  ones  (the  wings),  and  two  lower  or  front  ones, 
more  or  less  united  (the  keel)  ;  stamens  5-10,  all  united  at  the  base 
into  one  group  (monodelphous)  ;  two  groups  (diadelphous),  or 
separate;  ovary  usually  1-celled,  containing  1  to  many  ovules. 
Fruit  a  pod,  1  to  many  seeded,  usually  splitting  into  2  valves. 
(Figs.  9,  c,  d-  H,  c;  14,  k,  L) 

A  large  family,  of  which  the  peas,  beans  and  clovers  are  fa- 
miliar and  important  cultivated  members.  All  have  the  fruit  in 
the  form  of  legumes  or  pods  which  vary  much  in  size  and  shape. 
Rarely,  as  in  alfalfa,  they  are  coiled  like  snail  shells;  again  they 
are  like  the  achenes  of  buttercups  but  differ  in  opening  down  both 
sides  to  release  the  seeds.  In  one  group,  the  trefoils  and  bush 
clovers,  they  are  broken  up  into  joints,  each  joint  containing  a 
single  seed;  in  most  species,  however,  they  are  like  those  of  the 
pea.  or  bean.  To  the  farmer  the  members  of  the  pea  family  are 
especially  important,  since  they  harbor  on  the  roots  bacteria  which 
produce  small  nodules  (Fig.  7.)  enabling  the  plants  to  gather 
and  store  nitrogen  from  the  air.  It  is  this  stored  nitrogen  which 
renders  clover,  cow-peas,  etc.,  such  valuable  fertilizers.  About  90 
members  of  the  family  are  known  from  the  State,  a  half  dozen  or 
so  of  which  may  be  classed  as  weeds. 

41).     CASSIA  MARYLANDICA  L.     Wild  Senna.      (P.  N.  3.) 

Erect  or  spreading,  often  branched,  3-8  feet  high;  leaves  pinnate; 
leaflets  12-20,  oblong,  obtuse,  1-2  inches  long;  flowers  not  butterfly- 
shaped  but  nearly  regular,  yellow,  showy,  in  upper  axillary  racemes ; 
ivotals  5,  nearly  equal ;  stamens  10,  separate,  the  upper  3  imperfect.  Pod 
linear,  curved,  3-4  inches  long.  ^  inch  wide.  Seeds  hard,  gray,  3/10  of  an 
inch  long,  half  as  wide.  (Fig.  54.) 

Abundant  on  moist  hillsides,  in  lowland  meadows  and  pastures 
and  along  sand  and  gravel  bars  in  the  southern  half  of  the  State ; 


WEEDS  OF  THE  PEA  FAMILY. 


89 


less  common  northward.     June-Sept.     In  the  shape  of  the  flowers 

the  wild  senna,  partridge  pea,  red-bud,  Kentucky  coffee  tree  and  a 

few  others  differ  in  that  the  up- 
per petal  or  standard  is  en- 
closed by  the  wings  in  the  bud, 
whereas  in  the  pea  family 
proper  the  standard  overlaps  or 
encloses  the  wings.  The  wild 
senna  spreads  by  deep  perennial 
roots  and  often  densely  covers 
large  areas.  Remedies:  mow- 
ing before  the  flowers  blossom, 
two  or  three  times  each  season; 
cutting  with  hoe  or  spud  and 
salting. 

The  partridge  pea  (C.  cham- 
cecrista  L.)  is  another  senna, 
which  differs  in  its  smaller  size, 
much  smaller  leaflets  which 
close  when  touched,  petals  often 
with  a  purple  spot  at  base,  and 
straight  pods.  It  occurs  in  dry 

or  sandy  soil  in  the  southern  half  of  the  State.     Remedies  :  cutting 

and  burning  before  the  seeds  mature. 

50.     MEDICAGO  LUPULINA  L.   Black  or  Hop 

Medic.     Prostrate   Yellow   Clover. 

Nonesuch.  (A.  I.  3.) 
Branched  at  the  base,  the  branches 
prostrate  and  spreading,  1-2  feet  long  ; 
leaflets  3,  clover-like,  obovate  or  oval,  cre- 
nate.  Flowers  small,  bright  yellow,  in 
dense  oblong  heads  or  short  spikes;  sta- 
mens 10  in  two  sets,  0  and  1.  Pods 
black,  curved  backward  upon  the  stem, 
1-seeded.  Seeds  yellow,  similar  to  but 
smaller  than  those  of  red  clover.  (Fig.  55.) 


Fig.  54.    1,  flower;  2,  mature  pods.     (After  Vasey.; 


Frequent  in  dry  sterile  soil 
railways  and  roadsides  and  in  waste 
places  in  towns  and  cities.  May—  Aug. 
Valued  as  forage,  but  much  less  so 
than  the  white  and  red  clovers.  An 
own  brother  to  the  alfalfa  which  be- 
longs to  the  same  genus,  and  its  seeds 


Fig.  55.   (After  Smith  j 


90 


THE    INDIANA    WEED   BOOK. 


often  mixed  with  those  of  alfalfa  and  clover.     Remedies :  crowding 
out  with  red  clover  or  cow-peas;  increased  fertilization. 

iil.     MELILOTUS   ALBA    Dosv.      White    Sweet-clover.      White   Melilot.      Tree 

Clover.      (B.  I.  2.) 

Erect  or  ascending.  3-10  feet  high,  branching;  leaves  3-parted;  leaf- 
lets oblong,  slightly  toothed,  rounded  at  tip,  f  of  an  inch  long.  Flowers 
white,  in  slender  axillary  racemes;  standard  slightly  longer  than  the 
wings;  stamens  10,  in  2  sets,  9  and  1.  Pod  egg-shaped.  &  of  an  inch  long. 
Seeds  like  those  of  red  clover  but  smaller  and  flatter.  (Fig.  5<>.) 

Very  common  in  hard,  dry  soil  along  embankments,  roadsides, 
borders  of  fields  and  waste  places  generally.  June-Oct.  Some- 
times forms  dense  thickets  which,  when  the 
plants  are  old,  are  difficult  to  penetrate.  Often 
cut  and  fed  green  to  stock  and  in  some  parts  of 
the  south  regarded  as  a  valuable  forage  plant. 
If  used  for  hay  it  should  be  cut  early  before  the 
blossoms  appear  or  the  stem  becomes  too  woody. 
Remedies :  repeated  mowing ;  cultivation  in  late 
summer;  increased  fertilization. 

The  yellow  sweet-clover  (M.  officinalis  L.), 
2-4  feet  high,  the  flowers  yellow,  the  standard 
about  equalling  the  wings,  occurs  in  similar 
places  but  is  much  less  frequent.  The  leaves  of 
both  are  fragrant  in  drying,  hence  the  name 
"sweet-clover."  Both  are  useful  as  soil  indica- 
tors and  where  grown  in  old  roadways  or  brick- 
yards and  then  turned  under  aid  much  in  bring- 
ing the  dry  soil  into  good  condition. 


Fig.  56.     (After  Piper.) 


52.     MEIBOMIA     CANESCENS     L.      Hoary     Tick-trefoil. 
Seed  Ticks.      (P.  N.  2.) 

Erect,  much  branched,  3-5  feet  high,  covered  with  short  dense  hairs: 
leaves  stalked,  3-parted;  leaflets  ovate,  blunt-pointed,  yellowish-green,  1—1 
inches  long,  the  end  one  the  larger;  stipules  large,  ovate,  persistent. 
Flowers  purple  in  terminal  compound  racemes;  stamens  in  two  sets,  9 
and  1.  Pod  or  loment  lol>ed  on  both  margins,  more  deeply  below  than 
above,  l-<>  jointed,  the  joints  longer  than  broad,  very  adhesive.  Seeds 
lens-shaped,  kidney-form,  nearly  i  of  an  inch  long.  (Fig.  57.) 

Very  common  along  fence-rows,  roadsides,  borders  of  thickets, 
etc..  especially  in  low,  rich  soil.  June-Sept.  The  joints  of  the  pods 
break  apart  easily  and  are  roughened  with  minute  hooked  hairs  by 
which  they  adhere  closely  to  wool,  clothing  and  fur.  thus  widely 
scattering  the  enclosed  seeds.  Remedies:  mowing  or  hoe  cutting: 
cultivation. 


WEEDS  OF  THE  PEA  FAMILY. 


91 


Seventeen  species  of  these  tick-trefoils  are  known  from  the 
State,  two  or  three  of  which  are  trailing,  the  others  erect.  All  have 
purplish  flowers  and  jointed  pods,  the  joints  varying  much  in 
number,  form,  size  and  adhesiveness.  (Fig.  14,  I.)  All  are  vile 
weeds  commonly  known  as  "seed  ticks,''  though  no  one  of  them 

is  as  common  as  the  hoary  species 
above  described.  Of  them  Tho- 
reau  has  written:  "Though  you 
were  running  for  your  life  they 
would  have  time  to  catch  and 
cling  to  your  clothes.  They  will 
even  cling  to  your  hand  as  you  go 
by.  They  cling  like  babes  to  a 
mother's  breast,  by  instinct.  I 
have  often  found  myself  covered, 
as  it  were,  with  an  imbricated 
coat  of  the  brown  seeds  or  a 
bristling  chevaux-de-frise  of  beg- 
gars' ticks  and  had  to  spend  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  or  more  in 
(After  some  convenient  spot  picking 
them  off;  and  so  they  get  just 
what  they  wanted,  deposited  in  some  other  place.  Growing  on  some 
rough  cliff  side,  how  surely  they  prophesy  the  coming  of  the  trav- 
eler, brute  or  human,  that  will  transport  their  seeds  on  his  coat."* 

THE  SPURGE  FAMILY.— EUPHORBIACE.E. 

Herbs  with  a  milky,  acrid  juice  and  small  flowers,  usually  with- 
out petals,  the  sexes  of  which  are  often  borne  on  separate  plants  or 
on  different  parts  of  the  same  plant :  leaves  variable  in  form,  size, 
and  position  on  the  stems.  Flowers,  in  most  of  our  weeds,  within 
o:*  above  a  cup-shaped  involucre  of  leaf-like  bracts  which  are  often 
colored,  these  involucres  usually  bearing  naked  glands.  Fruit 
mostly  a  3-lobed  capsule,  each  cell  of  which  contains  a  single  seed. 

A  large  family,  mostly  represented  in  the  tropics.  The  castor- 
oil  plant  and  various  species  of  crotons,  grown  for  their  showy 
leaves  and  bracts,  are  cultivated  examples.  About  20  species  grow 
wild  in  Indiana,  several  of  them  forming  mat  plants  or  disks  of 
much  branched  vegetation  similar  to  the  carpet-weeds  and  purs- 
lanes but  having  a  milky  juice.  Others  are  erect  or  suberect  and 
all  are  separated  mainly  by  the  difference  in  shape  and  size  of  leaf. 

*  Autumn,  38-39, 


Fig.  57.     Single  joint  of  pod  shown  below. 
Britton  and  Brown.) 


92 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


smoothness  or  hairiness  of  stem  and  character  of  the  surface  of  the 
seeds.  Several  of  them  are  annoying  weeds,  especially  in  lawns. 
gardens  and  along  walks.  The  milky  juice  of  all  spurges  is  said  to 
"corrode  and  ulcerate  the  body  wherever  applied."  As  the  flower- 
ing spurge  is  often  gathered  for  decorations  it  is  doubtless  respon- 
sible for  many  cases  of  skin  poisoning.  Coulter  states  that  he  has 
a  record  of  23  such  cases. 

53.  ACALYPHA  VIKGINICA  L.  Three- 
seeded  Mercury.  Wax-ball 
Copper-leaf.  (A.  N.  2.) 
Erect  or  ascending.  3  inches  to  2 
feet  high  ;  leaves  dark  green  often 
turning  purple,  ovate,  long-stalked, 
1-3  inches  long,  thin,  coarsely  cut- 
toothed.  Male  and  female  flowers 
separate  but  in  the  same  axillary 
cluster,  the  male  or  sta  urinate  ones 
included  in  a  large  leaf-like  5-9-lol»ed 
bract  ;  the  female  ones  at  the  base  of 
these.  Seeds  ovoid,  reddish-gray, 
1/16  inch  long  with  lengthwise  wavy 
lines.  (Fig.  58.) 

Common  in  low,  moist,  shaded 
places  and  in  rich  or  sandy  soil, 

Fig.  58.     Seed  on  left;    staminate  and  pistillate     especially    about    baiTlS    and    Ollt- 
flower  surrounded   by  large   lobed    bract    on    right.  J 

(After  Britton  and  Brown.) 


buildings.      June-Oct.       The 

are  easly  crushed  between  the  fingers,  hence  the  name  wax-ball. 
They  are  common  in  clover  seed,  from 
which  they  are  difficult  to  separate, 
Remedies:  pulling  or  cutting  before 
the  seeds  ripen  ;  thorough  cultivation. 

54.  EUPHORBIA  MACULATA  L.  Spotted 
Spurge.  Milk  Purslane.  (A.  N.  2.) 
Stem  more  or  less  hairy,  branched 
from  the  base,  the  branch  slender,  pros- 
trate, spreading,  often  dark  red,  2-15 
inches  long  ;  leaves  opposite,  oblong,  ob- 
tuse. very  oblique  at  base,  short-stemmed, 
usually  with  a  brownish-red  spot  at  cen- 
ter. Involucre  entire.  Seeds  ovate, 
sharply  4-angled,  1/25  of  an  inch  long. 
ash-gray  with  four  shallow  grooves  across 
each  side.  (Figs.  f>,  <?;  51).) 

Fig.  59.    Leaf  and  pistillate  flower  below;  seeds 
/-<  •  i  above.     (After  Britton  and  Brown.) 

Com  men    in    waste    places,    espe- 
cially along  gravelly  or  sandy  banks,  sidewalks,  roadsides,  in  gar- 


WEEDS    OF   THE   SPURGE   FAMILY.  93 

dents,  etc.  June-Oct.  The  plant  often  forms  a  handsome  circular 
mat  covering  some  naked  place  on  the  bosom  of  earth.  Remedies : 
hoe-cutting  or  pulling  when  the  first  blossoms  appear;  thorough 
cultivation ;  burning  mature  plants. 

A  closely  allied  but  less  common  species  is  the  hairy,  spreading 
spurge  (E.  humistrata  Eng.),  which  has  the  involucre  split  on  one 
side,  stem  more  hairy,  leaves  larger,  more  ovate  and  more  numerous. 

55.     EUPHORIJIA  NUTANS  Lag.     Large  or  Upright  Spotted  Spurge.     Stubble 

Spurge.      (A.  N.  2.) 

Stein  ascending  or  erect  with  many  side  branches,  reddish-green,  (5-24 
inches  high;  leaves  opposite,  ovate-oblong,  often  curved,  unequally  cut- 
toothed,  often  with  reddish  margins  and  a  red  blotch  at  center.  Seeds 
blackish,  oblong-oval,  1/1(5  inch  long  with  blunt  angles  and  cross  ridges. 

Common  in  dry  pastures,  along  banks,  roadsides  and  waste 
places,  and  especially  in  sandy  stubble-fields.  May-Oct.  It  is  sup- 
posed to  be  one  of  the  causes  of  the  salivation  or  slobbering  of 
horses,  so  often  noted  in  late  summer.  The  pods  of  it  and  allied 
species,  when  dry,  burst  with  a  snapping  noise  and  project  the 
seeds  to  a  distance  of  several  feet.  Remedies  the  same  as  for  the 
spotted  spurge;  also  mowing  or  burning  over  stubble  fields. 

5G      EUPHORBIA  COROLLATA  L.     Flowering  Spurge.     White-topped   Spurge. 

(P.  N.  2.) 

Erect,  1-3  feet  high,  branched  above,  bright  green  ;  leaves  linear  or 
oblong,  the  upper  ones  whorled,  the  others  alternate.  Flower  stalks 

forked  and  arranged  in  an  umbel  at  top 
of  stem;  involucres  terminal,  bearing 
4  or  5  yellowish-green  oblong  glands  and 
white  petal-like  bracts.  Seeds  gray, 
1/10  inch  long,  slightly  pitted.  (Fig.  60.) 

Frequent  in  poor,  dry  soils,  espe- 
cially along  sandy  banks  and  road- 
sides. May-Oct.  When  bruised  it 
exudes  a  milky,  poisonous  juice. 
Spreads  by  long  stout  rootstocks  as 
well  as  by  seeds.  Remedies :  re- 
peated mowings  before  the  seeds 
ripen ;  increased  fertilization ;  thor- 
Fig.60.  (After  vasey.)  Ollg]1  cultivation  until  mid-summer. 

The  cypress  or  graveyard  spurge  (E.  cyparissias  L.)  is  a  peren- 
nial, propagating  by  rootstocks,  which  as  an  escape  promises  to 
spread  widely.  It  is  often  planted  for  ornament  about  country 
cemeteries  where  it  grows  a  foot  high  in  large  patches.  The  leaves 


94  THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 

are  linear  and  the  flowers  in  a  terminal  umbel.  The  bracts  are 
yellowish  when  in  blossom  and  the  plant  is  poisonous  to  stock  when 
eaten  in  quantity.  Wherever  found  it  should  be  destroyed  by  re- 
peated cutting  and  salting  as  it  crowds  out  grass  and  all  other 
plants  with  which  it  comes  in  contact. 

THE  SUMAC  FAMILY.— ANACARDIACE.E. 

Shrubs  or  woody  vines  with  acrid,  often  poisonous,  milky  sap 
and  alternate,  mostly  compound  leaves.  Flowers  in  axillary  or 
terminal  panicles;  calyx  small,  5-parted;  petals  5,  greenish  or  yel- 
lowish; stamens  5;  ovary  1,  1-celled,  1-seeded.  Fruit  generally  a 
small  drupe. 

A  small  family  with  little  or  no  economic  value,  Only  six  spe- 
cies are  listed  from  the  State,  all  sumacs  belonging  to  the  genus 
Rhus.  Two  of  them  produce  a  nonvolatile  oil  which  is  very  irri- 
tating to  the  skin,  producing  blisters  and  ulcers.  The  other  five 
are  harmless  to  the  touch.  The  foliage  of  one,  the  smooth  sumac 
(Rhus  glabra  L.)  is  used  to  same  extent  in  tanning  leather.  An- 
other, the  fragrant  or  sweet-scented  sumac,  grows  only  on  rocky 
banks  or  cliffs  and  its  foliage  gives  off  a  very  pleasing  odor.  No 
other  plants  rival  these  harmless  sumacs  in  the  rich  splendor  of 
their  leaves  and  fruits  in  the  Indian  summer  of  late  autumn.  Then 

"The  maples   blaze;   the   tangling  sumac  shrubs 
Of  glosving  spikes  build  crimson   ladders   up 
The  wall." 

They  are  then  easily  known  by  the  red  clusters  of  fruit,  that  of  the 
poisonous  species  being  grayish-white  and  the  foliage  much  more 
dull. 

57.  Kir  us  KADICANS  L.  Poison  Ivy.  Poison  Oak.  Poison  Vine.  (P.  X.  2.) 
Stem  woody,  either  climbirg  by  numerous  air  rootlets,  or  bushy  and 
erect ;  leaves  3-parted ;  leaflets  ovate.  i>ointed,  entire  or  toothed.  Flowers 
green  in.  loose  axillary  panicles.  Fruit  grayish- white,  smooth,  globular, 
1/6  of  an  inch  in  diameter.  (Fig.  Gl.) 

Common  along  fence-rows,  borders  of  fields  and  thickets.  May- 
July.  Two  well  known  varieties  of  poison  ivy  occur  in  the  State. 
One  is  a  bushy  shrub  2-6  feet  high  and  occurs  most  .commonly 
about  old  fences  and  rocky  ledges :  the  other  is  a  vine  80-150  feet 
in  length,  climbing  often  to  the  tops  of  the  tallest  trees  and  found 
mostly  in  dry,  open  woods.  The  foliage  of  both  is  poisonous  to 
most  persons,  though  some  can  handle  it  with  impunity.  Birds 
feed  readily  upon  the  fruit  and  scatter  the  seeds  far  and  wide. 
The  poisonous  oil  is  found  in  all  parts  of  the  plant,  even  in  the 


WEEDS   OF   THE   SUMAC    FAMILY. 


95 


wood  and  roots.  It  is  insoluble  in  water  and  cannot  be  washed 
from  the  skin  with  it  alone.  The  best  remedy  for  the  poison  is  an 
alcoholic  solution  of  sugar  of  lead.  This  is  made  by  taking  a  small 
bottle  of  alcohol  and  putting  in  it  as  much  of  the  powdered  sugar 
of  lead  as  it  will  dissolve  The  milky  fluid  should  then  be  rubbed 

into  the  affected  skin  three  or  four 
times  daily.  A  water  solution  of  su- 
gar of  lead  wrill  do  no  good  and  the 
alcoholic  solution  should  never  be 
taken  internally  as  it  is  a  deadly 
poison. 

Because  the  poison  ivy  is  a  vine  of 
handsome  foliage  it  is  sometimes  al- 
lowed to  grow  or  is  even  transplanted 
about  dwellings  and  parks.  From 
the  woodbine  or  Virginia  creeper,  also 
an  ornamental  vine  with  5  leaflets,  it 
can  be  at  once  told  by  having  only  3 
leaflets.  Any  woody  vine  or  low 
climbing  shrub  with  3  leaflets  should 
at  once  be  destroyed.  Remedies : 
grubbing  and  burning,  handling  the 
parts  only  with  hoe  or  fork,  or  em- 
Fig.  61.  a,  spray  showing  aerial  rootlets  and  ploying  men  wllO  are  immune  to  do 
leaves;  b,  clusters  of  fruit.  (After  Chesnut.)  ,-,  _  i 

In  the  tamarack  and  other  marshes  of  northern  Indiana  the 
second  poisonous  sumac  (R.  vernix  L.)  grows  in  abundance.  It  is 
a  tall  shrub  or  small  tree  with  pinnate  leaves  of  7  to  13  leaflets  and 
is,  if  anything,  more  poisonous  than  the  3-leaved  ivy.  The  same 
remedy  will  cure  the  poison 

TUB  MALLOW  FAMILY.— MALVACEyK. 

Herbs  or  shrubs  with  alternate  stipulate  leaves.  Flowers  reg- 
ular, perfect,  often  large  and  showy;  sepals  5,  united  at  base,  often 
with  a  whorl  of  bractlets  beneath  the  true  calyx ;  petals  5,  usually 
twisted  in  the  bud ;  stamens  numerous,  united  at  base  and  con- 
nected with  the  base  of  the  petals;  ovaries  several,  arranged  in  a 
ring  or  forming  a  several-celled  capsule. 

A  small  family  of  innocent  plants,  possessing  a  mucilaginous 
juice,  tough  bark  and  having  the  flower  stalks  axillary  and  usually 
with  a  joint  They  are  easily  known  by  having  the  bases  of  the 
stamens  united  in  a  tube  which  surrounds  the  pistils.  The  holly- 


96 


TTfK    INDTAKA    WEKT)   BOOK. 


hock,  cotton  plant  and  okra  are  familiar  or  cultivated  forms.  The 
rose  mallows  which  grow  wild  along  the  borders  of  marshes  and 
streams  produce  some  of  the  largest  and  most  handsome  of  our 
wild  blossoms.  The  most  common  one  of  these  is  the  halberd- 
leaved  rose  mallow,  4-8  feet  high  and  having  the  upper  leaves 
hastate,  the  large  bell-shaped  flower  pink  with  a  purplish  base  and 
the  fruit-pod  surrounded  by  the  bladder-like  inflated  calyx.  Only 
a  dozen  species  of  the  mallow  family  grow  wild  in  the  State,  three 
of  which  are  weeds. 

58.     MALVA  ROTUNDIFOLIA  L.    Round-leaved  Mallow.    Low  Mallow.    Creep- 
ing Charley.     Cheeses.     (P.  I.  2.) 

Stem  branched  at  the  base  and 
spreading  from  a  deep  root,  4-12 
inches  long ;  leaves  long-stalked, 
rounded  or  kidney-form,  obscurely 
5-9-1  obed,  the  edges  scalloped. 
Flowers  clustered  in  the  axils,  pale 
blue,  $  inch  broad;  petals  oblong. 
notched  at  the  end,  twice  the  length 
of  sepals ;  ovaries  about  15,  rounded 
on  the  back,  arranged  in  a  disk. 
Seeds  brown,  kidney-shaped,  1/16 
inch  across.  (Fig.  62.) 

Common  along  roadsides  and 
in  dooryards,  gardens  and  waste 
places  in  cities  and  towns.  May— 
Nov.      Children    often    eat    the 
Fig.  62.   (After  Clark.)  disk-shaped   little   fruit   bodies, 

calling  them  "cheeses,"  whence  the  following  lines: 

"The  sitting  down  when  school  was  o'er 
Upon  the  threshold  of  the  door, 
Picking  from  mallows,  sjK>rt  to  please. 
The  crumpled  seed  we  call  a  cheese." 

Like  other  weeds  which  flourish  best  in  coolpact  or  trodden  ground 
this  mallow  has  a  long  and  tapering  root.  Remedies:  pulling  or 
deep  cutting  with  hoe  or  spud  in  lawns  and  yards ;  thorough  culti- 
vation in  gardens  and  fields. 

51).     SIDA  SPINOSA  L.     Prickly  Sida.     Thistle  Mallow.      (A.  I.  2.) 

Erect,  much  branched,  soft  downy,  8-20  inches  high ;  leaves  ovate- 
lanceolate  or  oblong,  scalloped,  1-2  inches  long,  the  stems  of  the  larger 
ones  with  a  spine-like  tubercle  at  the  base.  Flowers  small,  lemon-yellow, 
short-stemmed,  axillary.  Pods  5,  combined  into  an  ovate  fruit,  each  split- 
ting at  the  top  into  two  beaks.  Seeds  dark  brown,  triangular,  smooth, 
not  shining.  1/lli  inch  long.  (Fig.  (!,'>.) 


WEEDS  OF  THE  MALLOW  FAMILY. 


97 


Common  in  dry,  upland,  clayey  soils  in  the  southern  two-thirds 
of  the  State,  occurring  especially  along  pasture  pathways  and  road- 
sides and  in  dooryards  and  barnyards  where  the  ground  is  com- 
pact. April-Nov.  An  emigrant 
from  the  south,  this  is  fast  becom- 
ing a  common  wayside  weed.  Often 
trampled  upon  by  man  and  beast,  it 
yet  survives  and  perpetuates  its 
kind.  Scrawny  and  rough  in  form 
it  exemplifies  a  life  of  bitter  strug- 
gle. Like  the  wire-grass,  bravely 
it  fights  its  way,  raising  its  head 
with  newr  vigor  after  being  pressed 
closely  to  earth  by  many  a  passer-by. 
Remedies :  cutting  plants  when  they 
begin  to  blossom;  in  gardens,  etc, 
cultivating  with  heed  crops. 


Fig.  63.    Showing  flower  and  fruit.     (After 
Britton  and  Brown.) 


CO.     ABUTILON  ABUTILON  L.    Velvet  Leaf. 

Indian    Mallow.      Butter    Print. 

American  Jute.     (A.  I.  1.) 

Stout,  erect,  3-6  feet  high,  densely  clothed  with  short,  soft  hairs; 
leaves  long-stalked,  heart-shaped,  pointed,  4-12  inches  wide.  Flowers 
yellow,  solitary  in  the  axils  of  the 
small  upper  leaves.  Pods  12-15, 
pubescent,  arranged  in  a  circle  to 
form  a  head  1  inch  in  diameter ;  when 
ripe  opening  at  the  apex  which  is 
split  to  form  two  short  beaks.  Seeds 
numerous,  kidney-shaped,  dark  gray. 
K  inch  across.  (Fig.  04.) 

Very  common  in  gardens  and 
cultivated  fields,  especially  those 
of  rich  lowland  soils  in  which 
com  and  potatoes  are  grown. 
July-Get.  The  leaves  are  in 
shape  and  size  like  those  of  the 
linn  tree  but  are  soft  velvety  in 
texture,  hence  the  common  name. 
The  carpels  or  single  pods  arc 
separated  from  each  other  by 
deep  lengthwise  grooves  and  the 
appearance  of  the  ripe  head  has 
been  aptly  likened  to  that  of  a 


Fig.  64.    Showing  flowers  and  ci'cle  of  fruits. 
(After  Vasey.) 


[7] 


08 


THE    INDTAKA    WEED   BOOK. 


circle  of  little  milk  pitchers  set  close  together  with  their  lips  point- 
ing outward.  The  many  seeds  are  widely  distributed  by  being 
blown  over  the  snow  and  carried  in  hay  and  other  crops.  By  some 
farmers  it  is  considered  one  of  the  worst  weeds  with  which  they 
have  to  deal  in  bottom  corn  lands.  Remedies:  pulling  or  cutting 
before  the  blossoms  appear;  burning  the  mature  plants  before  fall 
plowing ;  cultivation  of  hoed  crops. 

The  bast,  or  inner  fibrous  bark,  of  this  weed  is  a  jute  substi- 
tute which  may  be  made  into  twine,  rope  and  paper.  Jn  China 
the  plant  is  cultivated  for  this  fibre,  which  is  exported  under  the 
name  of  China  jute.  The  fibre  from  young  plants  takes  dye  readily 
and  is  fine  enough  to  work  into  yarn  for  carpet  fillings  and  coarse 
fabrics.  Experiments  in  the  cultivation  and  manufacture  of  the 
fibre  have  been  made  in  Illinois  and  New  Jersey.  The  cultivation 
was  successful  but  the  enterprises  failed  on  account  of  the  lack  of 
economical  machinery  for  extracting  the  fibre.* 

THE  ST.  JOHN'S- WORT  FAMILY.— HYPERICACE^. 

Herbs  or  shrubby  plants  with  opposite  entire  leaves  which  are 
always  marked  with  glandular  or  small  black  dots,  these  pellucid 
when  held  against  the  light.  Flowers  in  panicles  or  cymes  at  the 
end  of  slender  stems;  sepals  4  or  5,  greenish;  petals  4  or  5,  yellow; 
stamens  many,  arranged  in  3  or  more  clusters.  Pod  1  to  5-celled 

with  numerous  seeds.  About  20  species 
occur  in  the  State,  all  natives  but  one,  and 
it.  like  many  other  introduced  plants,  a 
vile  weed. 

61.     HYPERICUM  PERFORATUM  L.     Common  St. 

John's- wort.  Herb  John.  (P.  I.  3.) 
Erect  from  a  woody  base,  1-2  feet  high, 
much  branched;  leaves  oblong  or  linear,  ses- 
sile, less  than  an  inch  in  length.  Petals  deep 
yellow  with  numerous  black  dots,  twice  the 
length  of  the  lanceolate  acute  sepals.  Pod  3- 
celled ;  seeds  oblong,  numerous,  1/20  inch 
long,  surface  with  rows  of  pits.  (Figs.  12,  rf; 
65.) 

Frequent  in  pastures  and  moist  mead- 
ows. June-Sept.  The  crushed  leaves  are 
odorous  and  contain  a  very  acrid  juice. 
The  name  St.  John's-wort  was  given  it  by 
the  peasants  of  France  and  Germany  who 
gather  it  with  great  ceremony  upon  St. 

(  c.f  ll  (  I'tcfi  1  I  il  if  I !;  I.IE  cf  il  i  Wcikl."     1SC7. 


WEEDS    OF    THE    EVENING-PRIMROSE    FAMILY.  99 


John's  day  arid  hang  it  in  their  windows  as  a  charm  against  storms, 
thunder  and  evil  spirits.  In  Italy  it  is  known  as  the  "devil  chaser" 
because  it  scares  away  those  who  work  in  darkness  by  bringing  to 
light  their  hidden  deeds.  It  spreads  by  runners  from  the  base  and 
by  seeds  in  hay,  clover  and  grass  seed.  Remedies :  cutting  or  pull- 
ing in  meadows  before  mowing;  digging  or  spudding;  thorough 
cultivation  with  hoed  crops. 

THE  EVENING-PRIMROSE  FAMILY.— ONAGRACE^E. 

Herbs  of  varied  size  and  appearance  having  the  calyx  tube 
united  its  full  length  with  the  ovary  and  often  prolonged  beyond 
it.  Petals  usually  4,  twisted  in  the  bud ;  stamens  as  many  or  twice 
as  many  as  the  petals  and,  with  the  latter,  inserted  on  the  top  of 
the  calyx  tube;  ovary  usually  4-celled,  with  numerous  ovules  in 
each  cavity.  Fruit  a  capsule  or  small  nut. 

A  family  of  medium  size  whose  members  have  the  leaves  either 
opposite  or  alternate,  and  grow  in  various  kinds  of  soil.  The 
fuchsias,  raised  for  ornament,  are  about  the  only  cultivated  forms. 
Among  the  22  species  listed  from  the  State  as  growing  wild  are 
the  water  purslanes,  willow  herbs,  fireweeds,  evening-primroses, 
sundrops  and  enchanter's  nightshades.  Of  these  only  one  is  common 
enough  to  be  included  in  this  book  of  weeds. 

62.       ONAGRA      BIENNIS      L.       Common 

Evening-Primrose.  (B.  N.  2.) 
Stem  erect,  stout,  usually  un- 
branched,  1-9  feet  high,  often  reddish ; 
leaves  many,  lanceolate,  pointed,  un- 
evenly and  finely  toothed,  1-6  inches 
long.  Flowers  in  leafy  bracted,  terminal 
spikes,  bright  yellow,  1-2  inches  broad ; 
calyx  tube  slender,  much  longer  than 
the  ovary.  Capsules  oblong,  narrowed 
above,  erect,  hairy.  Seeds  small,  brown, 
roughened,  angular,  1/32  inch  long. 
(Figs.  11  (7,  //  ;  66.) 

Common  along  streams  and  road- 
sides and  in  old,  neglected  fields,  es- 
pecially those  with  a  sandy  soil, 
sometimes  crowding  out  all  other 
growth  and  forming  dense  thickets. 
June-Oct.  This  primrose  and  the 
Fig.  GO.  Showing  flower-buds,  flowers,  and  mullen  are  often  found  together  on 

seed-pods,  the  latter  near  the  base.     (After  Ker-      -i  T  , ,      .  ,     , 

ner  and  Oliver.)  dry,  sunny  slopes,  their  petals  vie- 


100  THE    1XDIAXA    WEED    BOOK. 

ing  with  the  evening  sunshine  in  the  brightness  of  their  hue.  Those 
of  the  former  open  only  in  late  after-noon,  but  if  the  next  day  be 
cloudy  or  they  are  in  the  shade  they  often  remain  open  until  noon. 
They  have  a  pleasing  fragrance  and  by  it  attract  unto  themselves 
many  night-flying  moths.  It  is  one  of  the  few  native  weeds  which 
has  found  its  way  to  Europe  in  exchange  for  the  many  they  have 
sent  to  us,  and  is  said  to  be  commonly  cultivated  in  many  English 
flower  gardens.  The  first  year  it  produces  only  a  rosette  of  root 
leaves  and  is,  there  fore,  a  weed  mostly  in  stubble  or  in  crops  sown 
in  autumn,  being  especially  notable  in  thinly  seeded  clover  fields. 
Remedies:  pulling,  cutting  or  spudding  in  summer  before  the 
seeds  ripen  or  in  late  autumn  after  the  rosettes  appear :  burning 
mature  plants;  cultivation  with  hoed  crops.  When  mown  it  is 
apt  to  stool  and  send  up  later  stalks.  Several  successive  mowings 
will,  however,  get  rid  of  it. 

The  young  shoots  and  roots  of  the  evening-primrose  are  eaten 
as  a  salad  in  Germany.  A  tea  made  from  the  leaves  is,  in  the 
eastern  States,  mush  used  for  dysentery,  cholera  morbus  and  other 
summer  diseases  of  the  bowels.  Tn  the  East  and  South  the  young 
roots  are  also  grated  fine  and  mixed  with  fresh  lard,  butter  or  tal- 
low to  form  a  salve  for  burns,  scalds,  bunions,  boils,  felons,  ery- 
sipelas, cuts,  bruises,  etc.  In  the  South  this  salve  is  known  as 
''King's  cure-all"  and  by  the  negroes  is  used  even  for  snake  bites. 
The  blossoms  pla,ced  in  water  form  a  mucilage  excellent  for  sore 


THE  PARSLEY  OR  CARROT  FAMILY.— UMBELLIFER^B. 

Herbs  usually  with  hollow  stems  and  alternate,  mostly  com- 
pound leaves  the  stalks  of  which  art1  often  dilated  at  base.  Flowers 
small,  white,  yellow,  greenish  or  purple,  borne  in  compound  or 
simple  umbels  (Fig.  13,  e,  g)  ;  calyx  tube  wholly  united  to  the 
ovary,  its  top  truncate  or  with  5  small  teeth  ;  petals  5,  inserted  on 
the  margin  of  the  calyx;  stamens  5,  borne  on  the  disk  that  forms 
the  top  of  the  ovary;  ovary  2-celled,  with  1  ovule  in  each  cavity. 
Fruit  composed  of  2  seed-like  dry  carpels  which  are  flattened  or 
cylindrical  and  marked  lengthwise  with  ribs, 

A  large  and  very  difficult  family  some  members  of  which  have 
very  poisonous  roots  or  herbage.  The  flowers  are  much  alike  in 
all  and  the  leaves  very  diversified,  even  in  the  same  genus,  so  that 
the  mature  fruit  is  necessary  for  correct  determination  of  the  spe- 
cies. There  are  usually  oil  tubes  in  the  fruit  and  the  odor  of  cara- 

*Vasey,  "Reporfof  U.rS.  Botanist,"  1887,  311. 


WEEDS    OF    THE    PARSLEY    FAJVI1LY. 


way  seeds  accompanies  most  of  the  fruits  or  mature  seed  pods. 
Thirty-two  species  of  the  family  are  listed  as  growing  wild  in  the 
State,  among;  them,  besides  the  weeds  below  mentioned,  being  the 
cowbane,  button  snake-root,  black  snake-root,  sweet-cicely,  hone- 
wort,  pennywort  and  that  pretty  little  harbinger  of  spring,  the 
turkey-pea  or  pepper  and  salt.  The  button  snake-root  differs  from 
nil  the  others  in  having  the  (lowers  clustered  in  dense  bracted  heads 
and  the  leaves  lily-like.  It  is  frequent  in  the  wet  prairies  of  west- 
ern Indiana.  Among  the  cultivated  members  of  the  family  are  the 
carrot,  parsley,  celery,  parsnip,  coriander,  fennel  and  caraway. 

(Jo.     DAUCUS  CAKOTA  L.     Wild  Carrot.     Queen  Anne's  Lace.     Kiid's  Nest. 

Devil's  Plague.     (R.  I.  1.) 

Erect,  bristly,  1-3  feet  high,  from  a  deep,  fleshy  conical  root ;  lower 
and  basal  leaves  2  or  3  times  divided,  the  smaller  segments  linear,  toothed 
or  lobed;  upper  leaves  smaller,  less  divided.  Flowers  white,  in  com- 
pound umbels,  which  in  age  turn  inward,  forming  a  bird-nest-li'ke  cavity. 
Fruit  bristly  on  the  winged  ribs.  Seeds  brown,  $  inch  long,  oval,  prickly. 
(Figs.  1,  e;  67.) 

A  handsome  but  vile  weed  which  during  the  past  20  years  has 
spread  over  most  of  Indiana.  Tt  occurs  mainly  along  roadsides  and 
in  old  neglected  fields  and  meadows,  espe- 
cially in  poor,  dry  upland  soil,  and  is  much 
more  common  in  southern  Indiana,  where 
such  soil  is  prevalent,  than  in  the  northern 
counties.  June-Oct.  It  is  the  original 
form  of  the  cultivated  carrot  and  is  a  na- 
tive of  both  Europe  and  Asia.  The  central 
flower  of  each  umbel,  and  sometimes  of 
each  umbellet  or  little  umbel,  is  often 
purple  and  the  outer  ones  are  sometimes 
partly  or  wholly  pinkish.  In  the  evening 
the  flowers  droop  their  heads  and  the 
young  clusters  of  buds  look  especially 
weary,  but  in  the  morning  all  are  standing 
up  stiffly  as  if  they  had  never  thought  of 
going  to  sleep.  The  seeds  are  very  numerous,  50,000  having  been 
counted  on  a  plant  of  average  size,  and  they  are  widely  distributed 
by  birds,  railways,  wind  and  water,  so  that  if  one  slovenly 
fanner  in  a  neighborhood  allows  the  plant  to  grow  all  his  neigh- 
bors will  soon  suffer  for  his  neglect.  Remedies:  deep  cutting  with 
hoe  or  spud  before  blossoming;  pulling  when  the  ground  is  wet;  in- 
creased fertilization;  repeated  mowing  while  in  blossom.  If  mown 


Fig.  67.     Flower  and  fruit  above. 
(After  Vasey.) 


102 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


but  once  they  stool  again  and  produce  seed  later  on.  By  cutting 
with  the  scythe  as  often  as  they  attempt  to  bloom  all  will  be  de- 
stroyed in  two  years.  Badly  infested  meadows  should  be  broken 
up  and  then  planted  to  corn  or  re-seeded. 


G4.      HERACLEUM     LANATUM     Michx.      Cow 

Parsnip.  Masterwort.  (P.  X.  2.) 
Stem  very  stout,  erect,  grooved,  woolly, 
4-8  feet  high,  often  2  inches  thick  at  base ; 
leaves  divided  into  3  leaflets  which  are  rather 
tli in,  very  pubescent  beneath,  broadly  ovate, 
stalked,  sharply  toothed,  3-6  inches  broad. 
Flowers  white  in  compound  umbels  which 
are  6-12  inches  wide.  Fruit  broadly  oval,  i 
inch  long,  $  inch  wide,  notched  at  tip  and 
with  club-shaped  oil-tubes  extending  only  to 
middle.  (Fig.  68.) 

Common  in  the  northern  counties  in 
low  meadows  and  pastures  and  about  the 
borders  of  lakes,  ditches,  etc. ;  less  fre- 
quent southward.  June- Aug.  Rem- 
edies: repeated  mowing  or  grubbing; 
cultivation. 


Fig.  68.    Branch  with  umbel  and  leaf; 
a,  flower;   b,  fruit;  c,  cross-section  of  fruit.     C5. 
^After  Watson.) 


PASTINACA    SATIVA    L.      Wild    Parsnip. 

Queen  Weed.  (P».  I.  2.) 
Stem  erect,  grooved,  hollow,  branching,  2-5  feet  high,  from  a  long 
conic  fleshy  root ;  lower  and  basal  leaves  pinnate  or  once  divided,  the  seg- 
ments thin,  ovate,  obtuse,  sessile,  sharply  cut-toothed ;  upper  leaves  much 
smaller.  Flowers  yellow  i'n  compound  umbels,  without  involucres,  the  rays 
and  flower  stems  very  slender.  Fruit  broadly  oval,  1  inch  long,  the  ribs 
riot  prominent  but  the  oil  tubes  conspicuous.  Seeds  whitish,  thin,  |  inch 
long. 

Common  in  waste  places,  especially  in  moist  grounds  along  rail- 
ways, borders  of  marshes,  roadsides,  etc.  June— Oct.  The  roots  are 
poisonous  even  after  cooking  and  are  sometimes  eaten  by  children 
with  fatal  results.  Both  it  and  the  wild  carrot  harbor  the  celery 
fungus  and  neither  should  be  allowed  to  grow  anywhere  near  celery 
gardens.  It  is  simply  an  escaped  and  degenerate  form  of  the 
garden  parsnip,  which  has  become  poisonous  as  a  means  of  pro- 
tection. Remedies:  frequent  mowing;  cultivation  with  hoed  crops; 
deep  cutting  with  hoe  or  spud  in  late  fall  or  early  spring. 

The  meadow  parsnips,  Thaspium  trifoliatum  L.,  T.  awreum 
Nutt.  and  T.  barlinodv  'Michx.,  resemble  the  wild  parsnip  bat  are 
much  smaller,  usually  without  grooved  stems  and  with  the  fruit 


WEEDS    OF1    THE    PARSLEY    FAMtLY. 


103 


not  flattened.     They  occur  frequently  along  banks,   ditches  and 
roadsides.     T'emedies  the  same. 

U<).     OCITA  MM  'i  i.  ATA  L.     Water  Hemlock.     Spotted  Cowbane.     Musquash 

Hoot.      (1*.  N.  2.) 

Stout,  erect,  branching,  3-8  feet  high,  the  stein  rigid,  hollow,  marked 
with  purple  lines,  springing  from  several  fleshy,  oblong  or  spindle-shaped 
roots;  leaves  2-  or  3-divided,  the  lower  long-stalked,  often  1  foot  long,  the 
leaflets  lance-oblong,  coarsely  and  sharply  toothed,  1-5  inches  long. 
Flowers  white  in  compound  terminal  umbels,  the  umbellets  many-flowered. 
Fruit  ovate,  -J  inch  long,  with  solitary  oil  tubes  between  the  corky  ribs. 
(Fig.  69.) 

Occurs  throughout  the  State  in  swamps,  ditches  and  low  wet 
grounds.  June-Aug.  It  is  one  of  the  most  poisonous  native  plants 

in  the  State,  the  roots  being  espe- 
cially dangerous  since  they  are  aro- 
matic, their  taste  suggesting  that  of 
parsnips  or  sweet-cicely.  Both  chil- 
dren and  adults  sometimes  get  hold 
of  them  where  they  have  become  ex- 
posed in  some  manner,  and  their 
eating  results  in  almost  certain 
death.  Many  cattle  and  sometimes 
sheep  are  also  killed  by  eating  the 
tubers  or  by  drinking  water  which 
has  become  poisoned  by  the  juices  of 
the  crushed  roots.  In  spring  when 
other  food  is  scarce  they  browse  over 
the  wet  lands,  find  the  new  green 
shoots  and  easily  pull  out  the  roots 
which  look  and  taste  like  those  of 
parsnip,  so  that  they  are  very 

oo^poKlo  fn  etrwdr  A  -YkWi  nf  tlin 
B-gTeeaD  K,K.  A  plGCC  • 

root  the  size  of  a  walnut  is  said  to 
be  large  enough  to  kill  a  cow  in  20  minutes.  The  symptoms  of 
the  poison  in  man  arc  vomiting,  colicky  pains,  staggering  and 
frightful  convulsions  ending  in  death.  When  bruised  the  plant 
emits  a  disagreeable  odor.  Remedies:  grubbing  or  cutting  with 
hoc  or  spud  in  spring,  then  drying  and  burning  the  roots. 

The  poison  hemlock  (Conium  maculatum  L.)  is  another  very 
poisonous  species  which  lias  been  introduced  from  Europe.  It  is 
also  a  large  branching  form  with  spotted  stem  and  differs  from 
the  water  hemlock  mainly  in  growing  in  dry  waste  places  and  in 


Fig.  69.      Showing  spindle-shaped   roots  and 
lower  stem;  also  fruit  and  cross-section  of  seed. 


104 


THE    TtfDT.ANA    \VFED    BOOK. 


the  fruit  having  no  oil  tubes.  The  juices  from  it  furnished  the 
poison  of  which  Socrates  was  compelled  to  drink  at  Athens.  In 
Indiana  it  lias  been  recorded  only  from  the  southern  counties. 

Drugs  made  from  the  leaves  and  fruit  of  the  poison  hemlock 
are  used  in  neuralgia,  asthma  and  rheumatism.  If  collected  for 
sale  the  leaves  should  be  gathered  when  the  plant  is  in  flower,  and 
the  fruit  just  before  ripening.  The  former  should  be  dried  quickly 
in  the  sun,  the  fruit  more  slowly  in  the  shade.  After  drying  both 
should  be  kept  in  tightly  closed  vessels.  About  20,000  pounds  of 
the  seeds  and  15,000  of  the  leaves  are  imported  annually,  the  price 
ranging  from  3  to  4  cents  per  pound  for  each. 

THE  DOGBANE  FAMILY  — APOCYNACEJE. 

Perennial  herbs,  shrubs  or  vines  with  entire,  mostly  opposite, 
leaves  and  a  milky,  acrid  juice.  Flowers  solitary  or  borne  in  cymes 
or  panicles ;  petals  5,  united  at  base,  twisted  in  the  bud ;  stamens 
5,  alternate  with  the  petals,  inserted  on  the  tube  of  the  corolla  ; 
ovaries  2,  distinct.  Fruit  usually  a  follicle  opening  at  the  side. 

A  large  family  but  mostly  represented  in  the  tropics,  the 
oleander  and  periwinkle  being  familiar  cultivated  forms.  Only  5 
species  grow  wild  in  Indiana.  One  of  these  is  the  periwinkle  or 
blue  myrtle,  Vinca  minor  L.,  which  has  escaped  from  cultivation, 

and  two  others  are  weeds. 

<  7.  APOCYNUM  CANNABINUM  L.  In- 
dian Hemp.  Amy-root.  (I*. 
X.  3.) 

Stem  erect  or  ascending,  glabrous, 
much  branched,  2-3  feet  high;  bark 
tough,  fibrous ;  leaves  opposite,  oblong 
or  oval,  short-stalked  or  sessile,  2-«.J 
inches  long.  Flowers  greenish-white 
in  erect  terminal  many-flowered  clus- 
ters: corolla  bell-shaped,  the  tube  not 
longer  than  the  sepals.  Pods  (fol- 
licles) very  slender,  cylindrical,  4-0 
inches  long.  Seeds  brown,  slender, 
tipped  with  a  long  tuft  of  silky  white 
hairs.  (Fig.  70.) 

Frequent  on  slopes  of  old  fields 
and  along  railways,  roadsides  and 
borders  of  thickets,  especially  in 

Fig.  70.    a,  flower;   b,  corolla  split  and   spread     moist   Soil.       Jllly-Sept.       It  is  often 
to  show   base  of  stamens;   c,  Hamens;   d,  tuft  of          TT     -\        j.i,  „        «o..--»«ll  I/™     ^A         v-iilL- 

hairs  attached  to  seed.   (After  Dodge.)  called     the        small-leaved     milk- 


WEEDS  OF  THE   MILKWEED  FAMILY.  105 

weed"  and  its  tough  fibrous  inner  bark  is  easily  separated  from 
the  straight  stalks  and  is  fine,  long  and  quite  strong.  It  is  much 
used  by  the  Indians  for  making  bags,  mats,  small  baskets,  belts 
and  twine  for  fishing-lines  and  nets.  The  milky  juice  is  poisonous 
and  the  numerous  rootstocks  and  wind  carried  seeds  render  its 
spreading  easy.  Remedies:  hoe-cutting  and  salting;  thorough  culti- 
vation ;  repeated  mowing. 

The  spreading  dogbane  (A.  androscemi  folium  L.)  is  a  near  rela- 
tive and  is  also  frequent  in  dry  soil  along  thickets  and  fence-rows. 
It  is  lower,  1-3  feet  high,  with  more  forking  branches,  wider  leaves, 
larger  and  more  showy  rose-colored  flowers  in  which  the  corolla 
tube  is  longer  than  the  sepals.  Remedies  the  same. 

THE  MILKWEED  FAMILY.— A SCLEPIADACE.E. 

Herbs  or  vines  with  milky  juice  and  mostly  opposite  or  whorled 
entire  leaves.  Flowers  usually  in  umbels ;  calyx  5-parted,  the  tube 
very  short  or  none ;  petals  5,  more  or  less  united  ;  between  corolla 
and  stamens  a  crown  of  5  hood-shaped  nectar  cups  each  contain- 
ing an  incurved  horn;  stamens  5.  inserted  on  the  base  of  the 
corolla ;  pollen  grains  cohering  to  form  a  pear-shaped  waxy  mass, 
two  of  which  are  united  like  little  "saddle-bags"  by  a  prolonga- 
tion of  their  summits.  (Fig.  11,  i.)  Fruit  a  follicle  composed  of 
two  valves,  opening  on  the  side.  Seeds  compressed  and  usually 
bearing  a  tuPt  of  long  silken  hairs. 

A  large  family  whose  main  distribution  is  in  the  tropics.  In 
Indiana  it  is  represented  by  17  species,  11  of  which  are  true^milk- 
weeds  belonging  to  the  genus  Asclepias.  They  are  perennial  upright 
herbs  with  thick,  deep  roots  and  having  the  simple  umbels  of  mostly 
purplish  flowers  borne  on  slender  nodding  stalks,  which  are  either 
terminal  or  springing  from  the  axils  of  the  leaves.  When  a  bee 
or  other  insect  visits  their  flowers  in  search  of  honey  its  legs*  often 
become  entangled  in  the  grooves  between  the  hoods  and  in  at- 
tempting to  escape  a  pair  of  the  sticky  pollen  masses  attach  them- 
selves to  its  feet.  The  bees  and  flies  are  often  unable  to  free  their 
legs  and  are  held  prisoners  until  they  die.  Three  of  these  milk- 
weeds are  with  us  common  enough  to  be  termed  weeds. 

('S.     ASCLEPIAS    TITEROSA    L.      Butterfly- weed.      Pleurisy-root.     Wind-root. 

(P.  X.  3.) 

Stems  erect,  hairy,  usually  tufted,  simple  or  branched  near  the  top, 
1-2  feet  high,  very  leafy  and  with  little  milky  juice;  leaves  alternate, 
oblong  or  lanceolate,  sessile  or  short-stalked,  2-C5  inches  long.  Flowers 
orange-yellow,  showy,  numerous.  Pods  hoary,  erect  on  bent  flower  stalks. 
Seeds  flat,  broadly  winged  with  abundant  silky  hairs. 


106 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


Common  in  dry  or  sandy  soil,  along  railways,  roadsides  and  in 
neglected  fields  June-Sept.  One  of  the  most  handsome  of  our 
wild  flowers,  yet  having  a  tendency  to  spread  and  crowd  out  more 
valuable  plants.  Remedies:  grubbing  or  repeated  cutting.  Its 
bright  orange  hoods  are  very  attractive  to  butterflies,  especially 
the  smaller  blue  ones  known  as  " hair-streaks"  and  "coppers." 
Scores  of  these  may  sometimes  be  seen  flitting  about  a  bunch  of 
the  flowers.  The  root  of  the  butterfly-weed  is  an  officinal  remedy 
for  colds,  bronchitis,  pleurisy  and  pneumonia,  the  dose  being  from 
20  to  40  grains  of  the  powdered  root,  or  a  teacupful  of  the  de- 
coction made  with  half  an  ounce  of  root  to  a  pint  of  water,  taken 
several  times  a  day.  When  properly  dried  it  brings  5  to  6  cents 
a  pound. 

GO.     ASCLEPIAS  INCAHNATA  L.     Swamp  Milkweed.      (P.  X.  3.) 

Stein  slender,  glabrous,   branched  above,  2-5  feet  high,  leafy  to  the 

top;  leaves  opposite,  lanceolate  or  oblong,  pointed,  3-6  inches  long,  1  inch 

wide.  Flowers  small,  flesh  colored,  red- 
dish or  rose-pnrple,  in  numerous  umbels, 
the  hoods  shorter  than  the  slender  needle- 
pointed  horns.  Pods  erect,  slender,  2-3  i 
inches  long.  Seeds  brown,  flat,  broadly 
winged  and  with  the  usual  tuft  of  hairs. 
(Fig.  71.) 

Very  common  in  marshes,  ditches, 
low  wet  pastures  and  borders  of  lakes 
and  ponds.  July-Sept.  The  fibre  of 
the  stem  is  tough,  finer  than  that  of 
hemp,  soft  and  glossy,  and  possesses 
greater  strength  than  the  majority  of 
bast  fibres  of  wild  growth.  It  can  be 
used  for  all  purposes  to  which  hemp 
may  be  applied.  Binder  twine  made 
from  it  has  stood  a  breaking  test  of 
95  to  125  pounds.  Since  the  plant 
grows  best  on  lands  subject  to  over- 
flow or  too  wet  to  be  cultivated  for 
grain,  it  might,  with  the  proper  attention,  prove  as  valuable  a  fibre- 
producing  plant*  as  hemp  and  so  bring  in  returns  from  otherwise 
waste  ground.  The  root  is  also  on  officinal  remedy  for  asthma, 
catarrh,  rheumatism,  etc.  The  plant  may  be  killed  by  draining  and 
grubbing  or  repeated  mowings. 


Fig.  71.     (After  Dodge.) 


*Dodge. — "Fibre  Investigations,"  No.  9. 


WEEDS   OF   THE   MILKWEED   FAMILY. 


107 


Fig.  72.     (After  Vasey.) 


70.     ASCLEPIAS  SYRIACA  L.     Common  Milkweed.     Silkweed.     Wild  Cotton. 

(P.   N.   2.) 

Stein  stout,  soft-downy,  usually  simple,  3-5  feet  high ;  leaves  opposite, 
.    oblong  or  oval,  short-stalked,  densely  hairy  beneath,  4-9  inches  long,  2-1 

inches  wide.  Flowers  dull  purple,  the  hoods 
short,  obtuse  with  a  tooth  each  side  of  the  short 
horn.  Pods  robust,  3-5  inches  long,  the  outside 
woolly  and  bearing  numerous  short  soft  tufts 
or  warts.  Seeds  brown,  flat,  \  inch  long,  with 
an  abundance  of  silky  hairs.  (Fig.  72.) 

Common  along  roadsides,  fence-rows 
and  in  blue-grass  pastures.  June-Aug. 
The  milky  juice  is  very  plentiful,  exuding 
whenever  the  leaves  or  stems  are  bruised, 
and  is  used  by  children  as  a  remedy  for 
warts.  The  root  is  used  in  medicine  and 
when  properly  dried  brings  about  4  cents 
per  pound.  Where  once  started  in  a  pas- 
ture the  deep  running  rootstocks  spread 
rapidly  and  send  up  numerous  stems  so 

that  the  area  affected  becomes  much  larger  year  by  year.  Rem- 
edies :  repeated  mowing  or  grubbing  while  in  blossom ;  in  cultivated 
lands,  thorough  hoeing  and  heavy  cropping. 

THE  MORNING-GLORY  FAMILY .--CONVOLVULAOEJE. 

Mostly  twining,  climbing  or  trailing  herbs  with  alternate  leaves 
and  regular  solitary  or  clustered  axillary  flowers.  Sepals  5 ;  petals 
5,  twisted  in  the  bud,  usually  united  their  full  length  to  form  a 
large  bell-shaped  or  funnel-form  corolla  (Fig.  10,  /.)  :  stamens  5, 
inserted  low  down  on  the  tube  of  the  corolla;  ovary  above-and  not 
united  with  the  calyx,  2— 4-celled  with  a  pair  of  ovules  in  each  cell. 
Fruit  a  2-4-valved  capsule. 

A  large  family  most  abundant  in  the  tropics,  many  of  which 
are  with  us  cultivated  for  ornament  and  one,  the  sweet  potato,  for 
its  edible  roots.  Nine  species,  known  as  morning-glories  and  bind- 
weeds, grow  wild  in  the  State,  three  at  least  of  which  are  trouble- 
some weeds.  The  glory  of  these  wild  morning-glories,  how  it  en- 
trances us!  'Tis  a  flower  whose  beauty  is  without  a  peer.  The 
eye  of  each  bloom  is  set  deep  within  the  tube  of  the  corolla  and 
beams  out  at  us  with  an  expression  of  most  tender  good  will  if  we 
but  deign  to  give  it  passing  notice.  They  are  goddesses  of  the  night 
and  early  morn — born  in  the  former — reigning  in  the  latter  and 
closing  forever  their  evanescent  eyes  before  the  fiercer  beams  of  the 


108 


THE    INDIANA    AYE  ED    BOOK. 


noonday  sun.    God  pity  him  .who  sees  no  beauty  in  a  wild  morning- 
glory,  fresh  from  its  natal  bud ! 

71.  IPOMCKA   PANDUKATA   L.     Wild.   Sweet-potato.     Man-of-the-Earth.      (!'. 

N.  2.) 

Stems  long  and  stout,  2-12  feet  long,  trailing  or  twining  from  a  huge 
fleshy  r<x)t :  leaves  broadly  ovate,  pointed,  heart-shaped  at  base,  2-0  inches 
h.iig,  sometimes  constricted  at  sides  so  as  to  be  fiddle-shaped.  Flower- 
stalks  long,  l-r>  flowered;  corolla  funnel-form,  2-3  inches  long,  white  or 
with  purplish  stripes  in  the  throat.  Capsule  egg-shaped,  2-4  seeded,  the 
setnls  densely  woolly  on  the  margins.  (Fig.  73.) 

Common  in  dry  or  sandy  soils,  especially  in  river  bottom  fields, 
though  often  in  uplands.  May-Sept.  The  vine  or  visible  part 

gives  little  sign  of  the  great 
amount  of  available  food  stored 
in  the  fleshy  root  which  is  often 
two  or  more  feet  long  and  some- 
times weighs  35  pounds.  Such  a 
root,  buried  deep  in  the  soil, 
sends  out  many  runners  where 
the  plant  has  fairly  established 
itself  and  makes  it  very  difficult 
to  exterminate.  Remedies : 
deep  cutting  and  salting ;  re- 
peated mowing  for  two  or  three 
years. 

The  true  wild  morning-glories, 
of  which  there  are  three  species 

Fig.  73.    Flowering  branch;   a,  root;   b,  fruit;   c.  seed     1H       the       State,       are       mudl       leSS 

troublesome  as  weeds,  though  oft- 
en occurring  in  numbers  in  lowland  sandy  fields.  The  most  com- 
mon of  these  are  the  small  white-flowered  species  (7.  lacunosa  L.) 
with  heart-shaped  leaves  and  white  corolla  about  ^  inch  long,  and 
the  ivy-leaved  morning-glory  (/.  hederacea  Jacq.),  the  leaves  deeply 
3-lobed  and  flowers  H  inches  long,  light  blue  or  purple  with  white 
tube.  Both  are  annuals  and  can  be  destroyed  by  pulling  or  cutting 
before  seeding. 

72.  CONVOLVULUS    SKPIUM     L.      Hedge    Bindweed.      Bracted    Bindweed. 

Devil's  Vine.      (P.  N.  1.) 

Stems  widely  trailing  or  twining,  3-10  feet  long;  leaves  slender- 
stalked,  triangular  or  arrow-shaped,  pointed.  2-f>  inches  long.  Flowers 
about  2  inches  long,  solitary  on  long  axillary  stalks,  pink  with  white 
stripes  or  wholly  white ;  calyx  with  two  large  bracts  f  inch  long  at  base. 


a 


WEEDS   OP   THE    MORNING-GLORY    FAMILY. 


109 


Capsule  globose,  2-4  valved.  Seeds  dark  without  hairs,  J  inch  across. 
(Fig.  74.) 

Very  common  in  cultivated  bottom  lands,   moist  uplands  and 
along  gravelly  banks.     June-Aug.     It  spreads  by  both  seeds  and 

creeping  underground  stems  and 
is  often  called  wild  morning-glory 
or  pea  vine.  From  the  annual 
morning-glories  above  mentioned 
this  and  the  next  are  told  by  the 
flowers  having  two  slender  stig- 
mas, whereas  in  them  the  1  or  2 
stigmas  are  globose  or  enlarged  at 
tip.  The  bindweed  often  climbs  up 
the  stalks  of  corn  or  wheat  and 
pulls  them  over,  while  potatoes  and 
other  low  growing  crops  are  liter- 
ally smothered  by  its  vines  and 
leaves.  Its  rootstocks  bear  numer- 
ous buds  and  if  cut  up  any  small 
piece  with  a  bud  present  will  pro- 
duce a  new  plant,  Three  remedies 
are  given  for  its  eradication 

Fig.  74.     (After  Cox.)  JQ     ft     recent    bulletillj*     yiz ^      (fl) 

Thorough  cultivation  every  week  or  ten  days  between  the  spring 
and  fall  frosts,  cutting  out  every  piece  of  top  growth  that  shows 
itself.  (?>)  Pasturing  with  hogs  which  are  very  fond  of  the  roots 
and  rootstocks;  the  hogs  of  course  should  not  have  their  noses 
ringed  or  slit,  so  that  they  may  root  deeply ;  if  turned  in  just  after 
the  land  is  plowed  the  roots  will  be  near  the  top  and  the  hogs,  if 
not  furnished  much  other  food,  will  go  after  them  greedily,  (c) 
Sowing  the  land  to  alfalfa,  which  not  only  tends  to  smother  out 
the  weed  1m t  by  its  necessary  frequent  cutting  for  hay  serves  in 
keeping  down  the  top  growth.  The  alfalfa  should  lie  followed  by  a 
cultivated  crop  to  complete  the  work  of  eradication. 

7'>.     CONVOLVULUS  ARVENSIS  L.     Field  Bindweed.     Corn-bind.      (P.  I.  1.) 

Resembles  the  preceding  but  the  branches  shorter,  1-3  feet  long ; 
the  leaves  smaller  with  the  lobes  at  base  more  pointed  and  projecting. 
Flowers  less  than  1  inch  in  length,  white  or  tinged  with  red;  calyx  with- 
out bracts  at  its  bas<\  (Fig.  75.) 

In  Indiana  this  introduced  bindweed  is  much  less  common  than 
the  native  species  and  occurs  in  dry,  usually  sandy  or  gravelly 

*H.  R.  Cox— Farm  Bull.  368,  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr. 


110 


THE    INDIANA    V7EED    BOOK. 


Fig.  75.    Branch  with  flowers.     (After  Cox.) 


soil,  mostly  in  old  neglected  fields 
or  along  railways.  May-Sept.  It 
is  propagated  by  spreading  root- 
stocks,  which  form  buds  and  send 
up  shoots  a.t  close  intervals.  As 
with  the  hedge  bindweed  the  top 
growth  must  be  kept  down  and  the 
roots  starved  out.  Remedies  the 
same;  or,  if  in  small  patches,  hoe 
cutting  and  salting. 

THE  DODDER  FAMILY.— 
CUSCUTACE.E. 


Yellow  or  whitish  twining  para- 
sites with  very  slender  stems  and 
leaves  reduced  to  minute  scales.  Flowers  small,  mostly  white, 
borne  in  dense  clusters:  calyx  5-lobed  or  5-parted;  corolla  bell- 
shaped  or  cylindric,  5-lobed,  the  tube  with  small  fringe-like  scales 
between  the  lobes;  stamens  5;  ovary  2-celled.  Fruit  a  1-4-seeded 
capsule,  or  small  globose  pod,  opening  with  a  lid  or  bursting  irreg- 
ularly. 

A  small  family  of  leafless  annual  herbs  with  thread-like  twin- 
ing stems,  known  as  dodders  or  strangle- weeds,  and  parasitic  on 
other  herbs  and  shrubs  by  numerous  minute  suckers  put  out  from 
the  stem.  All  dodders  are  parasites  by  suicide.  That  is,  each 
plant  springs  from  a  seed  which  furnishes  it  nourishment  until  it 
finds  some  suitable  host  about  which  to  coil.  In  coiling  it  con- 
tracts and  so  pulls  itself  up  by  the  roots.  If  not  uprooted  a  por- 
tion of  the  stem  a  few  inches  above  the  ground  soon  withers,  dies 
and  breaks  apart  while  the  upper  twining  portion  with  its  numer- 
ous minute  suckers  continues  to  flourish  on  the  juices  of  its  host. 

If  from  the  beginning  one  could  trace  its  history  he  would 
doubtless  find  that  like  most  other  plants  the  dodder  once  had 
leaves  but  a  weak  stem,  and  desiring  to  reach  the  light  began  to 
twine.  Tasting  juices  by  chance  it  was  nourished  by  them  and  so 
began  a  downfall  which  has  continued  until  it  presents  the  de- 
graded spectacle  of  a  plant  without  a  root,  without  a  twig,  without 
a  leaf  and  with  a  stem  so  useless  as  to  be  inadequate  to  bear  its 
own  weight.  Other  plants  with  smaller  beginnings  have  gone  on 
to  higher  forms  but  the  dodder,  from  a  breach  of  the  laws  of 
evolution,  has  paid  one  of  nature'^  heaviest  fines — lost  the  organs 


WEEDS   OF    TJIE    DODDER    FAMILY. 


Ill 


which  it  once  possessed  and  is  a  yellow  creeping  parasite  almost 
its  whole  life  long. 

Six  species  of  dodder  are  recorded  from  Indiana  and  several 
others  doubtless  occur.  Two  of  these  which  are  the  most  harm- 
ful are  herewith  treated. 

74.  CUSCUTA  EPITHYMUM  MuiT.  Clover  Dodder.  Devil's  Gut.  (A.  I.  1.) 
Stems  thread-like,  reddish-yellow.  Flowers  sessile  in  small  dense 
clusters,  pinkish-white;  calyx  more  than  one-half  the  length  of  the  cyl- 
indric  corolla  tube;  scales  of  the  latter  scalloped  and  strongly  incurved. 
Capsule  opening  by  a  little  lid.  Seeds  brown  or  dark  ash-gray  nearly 
spherical,  finely  pitted,  1/32  inch  long  or  not  larger  than  the  smallest  red- 
clover  seeds.  (Fi'g.  76.) 

While  this  dodder  is  not  recorded  in  the  State  list  of  plants  it 
has  been  noted  in  Ripley  and  Putnam  counties  and  doubtless  occurs 
elsewhere  in  many  clover  fields  as  it  is 
widely  distributed  east  of  the  Mississippi 
and  is  well  known  in  Ohio.  Like  all  other 
dodders  it  depends  wholly  upon  its  host 
plants,  the  red  clover  and  alfalfa,  for  food. 
Its  stems  spread  from  one  clover  plant  to 
another,  forming  a  dense  mat-like  mass  close 
to  the  ground,  the  flowering  branches  mean- 
while ascending  and  twining  about  those  of 
tho  host.  Their  suckers  soon  reach  and  draw 
upon  the  juices,  destroying  the  clover  stems 
and  leaves  as  if  by  fire.  Even  if  torn  loose 
small  pieces  of  the  plant  will  remain  and 
form  new  centers  of  growth.  Remedies  : 
sowing  clean  clover  seed.  As  Selby  has  well 
said:  "Dodder  in  clover  means  that  the  dod- 
der seed  has  been  soAvn  with  the  clover  seed, 
and  further  that  no  clover  seed  should  be 
Fig  76.  a,  flower;  b  co^iia  gaved  from  a  dodder  infested  field."*  The 

spread  apart  to  show  scales  on  its 

innerside;  c,  mature  seed-pod;  d  seed     use  Qf  a  sieve  of  20  meshes  to  the  linear  inch, 

and  cross-section  ot  same.     (Alter 


made  of  No.  30  to  No.  34-  Washburn  &  Moen 
gauge  wire,  will  allow  the  seed  of  clover  dodder  to  pass  readily 
through,  but  will  intercept  all  but  the  smallest  of  red  clover  and 
alfalfa  seed.  The  separation  of  seed  from  this  dodder  is  thus  ren- 
dered very  easy.  Plowing  and  thoroughly  cultivating  the  infested 
field  is  the  only  remedy  where  the  dodder  has  gained  a  hold. 
The  field  dodder  (C.  arvensis  Beyr.)  is  also  a  common  species 

*Buli.  175,  Ohio  Exp.'Sta.,'p.'348. 


112  THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 

which  preys  upon  both  clover  and  alfalfa  as  well  as  many  other 
plants.  It  is  pale  yellow,  has  the  scales  of  the  corolla  tube  fringed 
and  the  capsule  bursts  irregularly.  Twining  to  the  top  of  the  clover 
stem  or  other  host  it  throws  out  branches  and  rapidly  spreads  from 
plant  to  plant,  often  forming  a  dense  yellow  carpet  of  tangled 
threads  which  cover  and  weigh  down  the  crop.  The  seeds  are 
double  the  size  of  those  of  clover  dodder  and  are  therefore  very 
difficult  to  separate  from  those  of  clover.  They  are  gray,  light 
brown  or  pale  yellow  in  hue,  rounded  on  one  side  and  flattened  or 
angled  on  the  other. 

Where  found  in  small  patches  mowing  or  digging  and  burning 
is  the  only  sure  method  of  getting  rid  of  this  species.  Where  more 
widely  spread,  thorough  cultivation  should  be  used. 

75.     CUSCUTA  GRONOVII  WilUl.     Common  Dodder.      Onion   Dodder.     Wild 

Dodder.      (A.  N.  3.) 

Steins  bright  yellow,  slender,  high  climbing.  Flowers  short-stalked,  in 
dense  clusters;  corolla  bell-shaped,  lobes  spreading,  its  scales  thickly 
fringed  about  the  summit  of  the  tube.  Capsule  globose,  short  pointed. 

Very  common  along  streams  and  marshes,  climbing  high  over 
many  kinds  of  herbs  and  shrubs,  occasionally  also  in  dry  upland 
fields.  July-Sept.  Often  attacking  onions  grown  in  the  muck 
soils  of  northern  Indiana,  Along  the  streams  its  yellow  yarn-like 
stems  cover  large  clumps  of  the  water  willow  and  gleam  in  the  Au- 
gust sunshine  like  some  great  mass  of  gold  dropped  down  along 
the  lowest  levels  where  the  placid  waters  flow.  Remedies:  mowing 
and  burning. 

Other  wild  species  there  are,  as  the  smartweed  dodder,  which 
attacks  golden-rods  and  smartweeds ;  the  button-bush  dodder  which 
preys  mainly  upon  the  shrub  of  that  name,  and  the  massive  dodder 
whose  hosts  are  the  larger  Composite  like  the  sunflowers,  the  great 
ragweed  and  wild  lettuce.  Its  flowers  and  stems  are  twisted  to- 
gether so  as  to  form  a  rope-like  711  ass  sometimes  an  inch  thick, 
whose  coils  encircle  its  hosts.  All  are  confirmed  parasites,  sap- 
suckers  of  high  degree,  whose  only  redeeming  quality  is  that  some 
of  them  prey  upon  other  weeds  and  thus  aid  somewhat  in  keeping 
in  subjection  these  omnipresent  foes  of  the  farmer. 

THE  BORAGE  FAMILY.— BORAGINACEJE. 

Chiefly  rough  hairy  herbs  with  alternate  entire  leaves,  and 
regular  flowers  borne  mostly  on  one  side  of  the  branches  of  a  spike 
or  raceme  which  unrolls  or  straightens  as  the  flowers  unfold. 
Calyx  5-parted ;  corolla  gamopetalous,  5-lobed ;  stamens  5,  inserted 


WEEDS   OF   THE   BORAGE   FAMILY. 


113 


on  the  tube  of  the  corolla  and  alternate  with  its  petals;  ovary 
deeply  4-lobed  forming  in  fruit  4  hard  seed-like  1-seeded  nutlets 
standing  close  together  within  the  calyx. 

A  rather  large  family  of  homely  mucilaginous  and  slightly  bit- 
ter plants,  represented  in  Indiana  by  20  or  more  species,  among 
them,  in  addition  to  the  weeds  described  below,  being  the  wild 
comfrey,  blue-bells,  wild  forget-me-nots,  gromwells  and  puccoons. 
The  heliotropes  and  true  forget-me-nots  are  the  only  common  culti- 
vated forms. 

70.     CYNOGLOSSUM  OFFICINALE  L.     Hound's-tongue.     Dog  Bur.     Wool-mat, 

Gipsy  Flower.     (B.  I.  2.) 

Stem  erect,  stout,  usually  branched,  leafy  to  the  top,  1-3  feet  high ; 
basal  and  lower  leaves  oblong  or  tongue-shaped,  slender-stalked;  upper 
leaves  lanceolate,  sessile  or  clasping.  Flowers  reddish-purple  or  white, 
in  panicles  or  more  or  less  one-sided  racemes;  tube  of  corolla  closed  by 
5  small  scales.  Nutlets  triangular,  flat  on  the  upper  face,  covered  with 
short  barbed  prickles.  (Fig.  77.) 

A  vile  ill -smelling  weed  common  in  dry  soil  along  roadways,  in 
shady  pastures  and  waste  places.  May-Sept.  The  root  leaves  of 

the  first  -season's  growth  form  a 
dense  tuft  from  the  midst  of 
which  the  flower  stalk  of  the  next 
season  springs.  The  prickly  burs 
adhere  rather  loosely  to  cloth- 
ing and  the  wool  of  sheep.  Rem- 
edies: deep  cutting  in  late  fall  or 
early  spring ;  repeated  mowing  be- 
fore the  seeds  ripen. 

The  name  Cynoglossum  is  the 
Greek  for  two  words  meaning  "a 
dog"  and  "tongue,"  so  given 
from  the  form  of  the  leaves.  In 
Europe,  from  whence  the  weed 
has  been  brought,  it  has  been  re- 
rxiif^l  fn  VIQVP  tllP  TttflPHPal  nrOD- 
PU 

ertv  Of  preventing  dogs  barking 
at  a  person  if  laid  beneath  the  feet ;  and  wild  goats  or  deer,  "when 
they  be  wounded  with  arrows,  do  shake  them  out  by  eating  of  this 
plant,  and  heal  their  wounds." 

77.     LAPPULA    VTRGINIANA    L.      Beggar's    Lice.      Virginia    Stickseed.       (B. 

N.  2.) 
Erect,    much    branched.,   2-4    feet   hi'gh;    basal   leaves   broad,    ovate, 


Fig.  77.  Corolla  split  and  spread  apart  to  show  the 
stamens  and  scales  in  throat;  fruit  with  4  bur-like 
nutlets.  (After  Britton  and  Brown.) 


[8] 


114 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


long-stalked;  stein  leaves  narrower,  ovate-oblong,  the  uppermost  sessile. 
Flowers  small,  nearly  white,  in  racemes  which  are  bract  eel  only  at  base. 
Fruit  globose,  nearly  1/0  inch  long,  recurved ;  nutlets  with  margins  and 
usually  the  back  thickly  armed  with  prickles. 

Common  in  dry  soil  along  borders  of  thickets,  roadsides  and  in 
open  woods  and  old  fields.  June-Sept.  Occurring  with  it  or  in 
similar  places  and  about  as  common  is  a  European  species,  the  blue 
bur  or  burseed  (L.  lappula  L.~).  It  is  an  annual,  1-2  feet  high, 
clothed  with  short  gray  hairs  and  with  the  leaves  linear  or  oblong, 
sessile  or  stalked;  the  flowers  pale  blue,  in  leafy  bract ed  1 -sided 
racemes,  and  the  fruit  not  curved  downward.  Among  the  various 
fruits  and  seeds  which  rely  upon  animals  for  distribution,  those  of 
these  two  beggars'  lice  are  most  troublesome,  being  especially  an- 
noying to  horses,  dogs,  sheep  and  man.  They  are  easily  known  by 
being  in  groups  of  four  and  shaped  somewhat  like  a  quarter  of  an 
apple.  The  tip  of  each  little  prickle  is  barbed  upward  like  a  har- 
poon so  that  the  burs  are  very  difficult  to  remove  from  clothing. 
Remedies:  pulling  or  mowing  and  burning;  thorough  cultivation; 
late  fall  or  early  spring  plowing1. 

78.     LITHOSPERMUM  ARVENSE  L.     Corn  Giouiwell.     Wheat  Thief.     Pigeon- 
weed.     Redroot.      (A.   I.  2.) 

Erect,  usually  branched,  G-20  inches  high,  pale  green  clothed  with 
appressed  grayish  hairs ;  leaves  linear  or  lanceolate,  sessile  without  veins. 
Flowers  small,  dull  white,  solitary  and  sessile  in  the  axils  of  leafy  bracts 
along  the  spikes;  corolla  tube  not  longer  than  the  calyx,  without  scales  or 
folds.  Nutlets  hard,  brown,  conical,  1/10  inch  long,  wrinkled  and  pitted. 
(Fig.  IS.) 

Common  in  the  northern  half  of  the 
State  along  railways,  roadsides  and  in 
cultivated  fields;  less  common  but 
rapidly  spreading  southward.  April- 
Sept.  Prefers  dry,  more  or  less  sandy 
soil,  and  where  abundant  especially 
harmful  to  winter  wheat,  rye,  and 
meadows.  The  seeds  often  germinate 
in  late  autumn,  the  plant  then  being  a 
winter  annual,  blooming  and  ripening 
the  lowermost  seeds  the  next  spring 
before  the  winter  cereals  are  cut.  It 
Fig.  78.  (After  Shaw.)  js  tbereforc  very  difficult  to  remove 

from  grain  fields.  The  seeds  are  frequent  among  those  of  wheat  and 
hay  and  are  also  distributed  by  birds,  threshing  machines  anci 


WKE1TS    OF    Till7    HORACE    FAMILY. 


cattle.  They  are  said  to  retain  their  vitality  for  years.  Remedies: 
clean  seed;  burning  wheat  stubble  in  infested  fields;  if  badly  in- 
fested, plowing  up  the  field  in  early  spring;  late  fall  plowing;  pull- 
ing or  cutting  where  occurring  in  small  numbers. 

Blueweed.     Viper's  Bngloss.      (B.  I.  1.) 

Erect,  branched,  bristly-hairy,  1-*> 
feet  high  ;  stem  leaves  oblong  or  lance- 
olate, sessile,  entire,  2-U  inches  long. 
Flowers  bright  bine,  tubular,  2/3  to  1 
inch  long,  numerous  in  short,  1-sided 
spikes ;  lobes  of  the  corolla  unequal. 
Nutlets  ovate.  %  inch  long,  wrinkled, 
their  bases  flat.  (Fig.  79.) 

A  European  weed  as  yet  re- 
corded only  from  the  northern  part 
of  the  State.  Occurs  along  rail- 
ways, roadsides  and  in  waste 
places  generally,  especially  in  poor 
or  gravell}7  soils.  June-Aug.  The 
numerous  hairs  harden  with  age 
and  form  sharp  prickles  which 
come  off  easily  like  the  spines  of  a 
cactus.  Being  a  biennial  it  forms 
the  first  year  a  dense  rosette  of 
long  leaves  lying  flat  on  the 

ground,  blooms  only  the  second  year,  and  is  especially  harmful  to 
pastures  and  meadows.  In  Canada  it  is  accounted  one  of  the  worst 
of  pasture  weeds.  Like  the  Russian  thistle  it  should  be  killed  on 
sight.  Remedies:  deep  cutting  with  hoe  or  spud  in  early  spring; 
thorough  cultivation  when  found  in  fields;  repeated  scythe  mowing 
close  to  the  ground. 

THE  VERVAIN  FAMILY.— VERBENACE^E. 

Herbs  or  shrubs  with  opposite  or  whorl ed  leaves  and  perfect 
flowers  usually  in  spikes  or  heads.  Calyx  4-5  lobed  or  cleft;  petals 
united  into  a  more  or  less  two-lipped,  usually  cylindrical,  corolla 
(this  nearly  regular  in  our  weeds)  :  stamens  4,  2  long,  2  short,  in- 
serted on  the  corolla  and  alternate  with  its  lobes;  ovary  2-4  celled, 

1  ovule  in  each  cavity.    Fruit  dry,  usually  splitting  when  ripe  into 

2  or  4  nutlets. 

A  large  family,  mostly  represented  in  the  tropics.  Only  8 
species  are  listed  from  Indiana,  7  of  which  belong  to  the  genus 


116  THE    INDIANA,   WEED   BOOK. 

Verbena,  the  other  being  the  fog- fruit,  a  low  creeping  form  with 
only  2  nutlets,  which  grows  along  river  banks  and  ditches.  Four 
of  them,  known  as  vervains,  are  with  us  common  enough  to  be 
classed  as  weeds,  while  another,  V.  officinalis  L.,  is  the  European 
vervain  or  ''herb-of-the-cross, "  introduced  widely  throughout  the 
United  States  and  occurring  in  southeastern  Indiana,  In  Germany 
a  wreatli  of  this  vervain  is  presented  to  the  newly  married  bride, 
while  in  France  it  is  gathered  with  secret  incantations  at  different 
stages  of  the  moon,  and  is  then  held  to  possess  remarkable  curative 
properties.  It  was  formerly  much  used  for  love-philtres  and 
charms,  and  it  and  the  rue  were  the  two  plants  most  used  in  the 
mystic  cauldrons  of  the  witches  This  vervain  was  also  among  the 
sacred  plants  of  the  Druids  and  was  only  gathered  by  them  "when 
the  dog-star  arose  from  unsunned  spots."  The  reasons  for  the 
names  "herb-of-the-eross"  and  "holy  herb"  are  set  forth  in  the 
following  stanza  : 

"All  hail,  thou  holy  herb,  vervin. 
Growing  on  the  ground  ; 
On  the  Mount  of  Calvary 
There  wast  thou   found ; 
Thou  he! pest  many  a  grief, 
And  staunchest  many  a  wound. 
In  the  name  of  sweet  Jesu 
I  lift  thee  from  the  ground." 

80.  VERBENA    UKTICIFOLIA    L.      White    Vervain.      Nettle-leaved    Vervain. 

(P.  N.  2.) 

Stem  erect,  slender,  branched  above,  usually  pubescent,  3-5  feet  high  ; 
leaves  ovate,  mostly  stalked,  thin,  pointed,  coarsely  saw-toothed.  Flowers 
very  small,  white  or  purplish,  borne  on  numerous  erect  or  spreading  very 
slender  spikes.  Seeds  brown,  slender,  1/20  inch  long,  with  1  curved  and  2 
straight  sides. 

Our  most  common  species,  occurring  along  roadsides,  among 
rubbish  about  old  buildings  and  in  open  pastures,  usually  in  dry 
soil.  June-Sept.  It  is  very  often  covered  with  the  leaf  mildew 
fungus  which  -gives  it  a  sickly  white  hue  and  renders  it  an  eyesore 
to  every  passerby.  In  blue-grass  pastures  it  often  forms  dense 
patches,  especially  in  the  angles  of  old  rail  fences.  Remedies:  re- 
peated mowing  or  grubbing;  cultivation. 

81.  VERBENA  IIASTATA  L.     Blue  Vervain.     Simpler's  Joy.     Wild  Hyssop. 

(P.  N.  3.) 

Erect,  rough ish.  branched  above,  3-7  feet  high  :  leaves  oblong-lanceolate, 
stalked,  pointed,  sharp-toothed,  3-6  inches  long,  the  lower  ones  often 
hastate.  Flowers  bright  blue  in  numerous  rather  slender  erect  spikes. 


Wl'TKDS  OP   THE   VERVAIN   FAMILY. 


117 


Fruit  densely   overlapping  on  the  spikes.     Seeds  like  tbe  preceding  but 
larger.     (Fig.  SO.) 

Frequent  in  moist  meadows  and  open  sandy  fields,  waste  places, 
etc.  June-Sept,  Sometimes  associated  with  it,  but  more  often  in 

dry,  open  pastures,  is  the  hoary  ver- 
vain (V.  stricta  Vent.)  densely  soft, 
hairy  all  over,  leaves  nearly  sessile, 
spikes  stout,  often  a  foot  long,  densely 
flowered,  the  corolla  larger,  deep 
purplish  blue.  In  both  the  flowering 
begins  at  the  base  and  processes 
slowly  upward  so  that  often  only  an 
inch  or  two  is  in  blossom  at  a  time. 
When  in  the  height  of  the  blooming 
period  the  seed  pods,  or  fruit  of  the 
past,  are  below;  the  unopened  buds 
of  the  future  above.  Life,  present 
work,  is  then  centered  in  the  flower- 
ing part;  duty  performed,  work  well 
done,  in  the  seed  part ;  promises  or  hopes  for  the  future  in  the  buds. 
Ouly  the  blooming  part,  that  which  is  active,  is  then  beautiful. 
Both  plants  are,  however,  in  many  places  too  plentiful  and  the 
farmer  needs  their  room.  Remedies:  repeated  mowing  before  the 
first  blossoms  appear;  cultivation. 

The  narrow-leaved  vervain  (V.  angustifolia  Michx.)  is  regarded 
as  a  bad  weed  in  the  eastern  States,  but  with  us  has  so  far  ap- 
peared in  only  3  or  4  counties,  where  it  occurs  on  prairies  and  in 
light  sandy  soil  along  high  banks  of  streams.  It  is  low,  1-2  feet 
high,  with  very  slender  or  at  most  willow-shaped  leaves  and  blue 
flowers  in  dense,  slender  spikes.  Remedies  the  same. 


Fig.  80.    Single  flower  on  left;  seed  and  fruit 
on  right.     (After  Britton  and  Brown.) 


THE  MINT  FAMILY.— LABIATE. 

Chiefly  aromatic  herbs  with  4-sided  stems  and  simple  opposite 
leaves.  Flowers  mostly  in  small  clusters,  spikes  or  racemes  from 
the  axils  of  the  leaves;  corolla  with  a  short  or  long  tube,  more  or 
less  2-lipped ;  upper  lip  usually  2-lobed,  lower,  3-lobed ;  stamens 
usually  4,  2  long,  2  short,  sometimes  only  2,  borne  on  the  tube  of 
the  corolla;  ovary  deeply  4-lobed,  forming  a  fruit  of  four  1-seeded 
nutlets  in  the  bottom  of  the  persistent  calyx. 

A  family  of  about  3,000  species,  of  wide  distribution  in  tem- 
perate and  tropical  regions.  The  foliage  is  dotted  with  small 


118 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


glands  containing  a  volatile  oil  which  yields  the  aroma  or  spicy 
fragrance  common  to  most  members  of  the  family.  If  the  plant 
belongs  to  the  mint  family,  by  rubbing  one  of  the  leaves  between 
the  fingers  one  can  easily  detect  an  odor  akin  to  that  of  catnip  or 
pennyroyal.  If  in  addition  the  stem  is  4-sided  and  the  nutlets  4 
its  location  there  is  certain  Here  belong  the  sage  and  lavender, 
bergamot  and  hoarhound,  thyme  and  sweet  majorum,  balm  and 
savory,  sweet  basil  and  hyssop  of  our  country  gardens.  Here  also 
belong  about  65  species  growing  wild  in  the  State,  among  them, 
in  addition  to  the  weeds  below  mentioned,  being  skull-caps,  giant 
hyssops  heal-all,  dragon-head,  hedge  nettles,  horse  mints,  wild 
basils,  field  balms,  mountain  mints,  pepper-mints  and  bugle-weeds. 
Mint  extracts,  distilled  from  the  foliage  of  certain  species,  are  used 
in  perfumery,  confectionery  and  in  medicines  and  a  number  of  the 

wild  forms  are  gathered  as  house- 
hold remedies.  While  a  half  dozen 
or  more  of  the  family  are  weeds  in 
that  they  are  useless  plants,  no  one 
of  them  possesses  that  dominant  in- 
trusive character  which  marks  a 
weed  of  the  first  class. 

82  TEUCRIUM  CANADENSE  L.  Wood 
Sage.  American  Germander. 
(P.  N.  3.) 

Stem  stiff,  erect,  downy,  somewhat 
branched,  1-3  feet  high;  leaves  lance- 
olate or  oblong,  short-stalked,  pointed, 
sharp-toothed.  Flowers  f  inch  long, 
pinkish  or  purplish  in  terminal  bracted 
spikes;  corolla  tube  short,  the  upper 
lip  2-lobed;  stamens  4,  exserted.  Nut- 
lets rough,  attached  by  the  sides. 
(Fig.  81.) 

Fig.  si.  a,  branch  with  flower  clusters;  b,  side          Common  in  grass  lands  along 

iew  of  a  few  flowers;   c,  bilabiate  or  two-lipped     +1          V»AT»rloT>«a     nf     a  trauma       mar«lip« 
'owcr,  enlarged,  showing  the  united  sepals,  the  three     tne     "Orders     Ot     Streams,     HiarSllCS, 


,  ,  , 

Divisions  of  lower  lip  and  two  of  upper,  the  stamens 
dnd  style  protruding  through  the  slit  of  upper  lip. 
aAfter  Briquet.; 


moist     thickets     and     fence-rows. 

June-Sept.  The  ovary  is  only  4- 
lobed,  not  divided  into  4  nutlets  as  in  the  other  mint  wreeds  treated 
below,  and  the  stamens  protrude  from  the  cleft  between  the  lobes 
of  the  upper  lip.  Remedies :  mowing  and  grubbing. 

83.     NEPETA  CATARIA  L.     Catnip.     Catmint.     (P.  I.  2.) 

Stem  erect,  rather  stout,  branched,  pale  green,  very  downy,  2-3  feet 
high ;  leaves  ovate  or  heart-shaped,  deeply  scalloped,  paler  beneath.     Flow- 


WEEDS    OJ'1    T 1 1 E    M  I N  T    FA  M ILY .  * 

ers  in  whorled  clusters  about  the  spikes  at  the  ends  of  the  stems  and 
branches;  corolla  whitish  dotted  with  purple,  strongly  2-lipped,  the  upper 
lip  concave;  stamens  4,  the  upper  pair  the  longer.  Nutlets  egg-shaped, 
brown,  smooth,  1/1(1  i'nch  long,  the  basal  scar  with  a  white  eye-like  cavity 
each  side  above. 

This  is  one  of  the  best  known  of  the  social  weeds  being  very 
common  about  the  sites  of  old  dwellings,  along  roadsides  and  in 
waste  places  in  rather  dry  soil.  June-Oct.  It  is  a  native  of  both 
Europe  and  Asia,  and  a  tea  made  from  its  dried  leaves  is  used  the 
world  over  by  old  ladies  who  deal  in  simples  as  a  mild  stimulant 
and  tonic  for  colic  in  infants,  hysteria,  etc.  The  flowering  tops  and 
leaves  have  a  strong  mint-like  odor  and  a  bitter  taste  and  are  sold 
by  druggists.  If  gathered  for  sale  they  should  be  collected  when 
the  plant  is  in  flower  and  then  carefully  dried.  The  price  ranges 
from  2  to  8  cents  per  pound. 

The  common  name  was  given  the  plant  on  account  of  the  old 
belief  that  cats  "are  much  delighted  with  catmint,  for  the  smell 
of  it  is  so  pleasant  unto  them  that  they  rub  themselves  upon  it 
and  wallow  or  tumble  in  it  and  also  feed  upon  its  branches  greed- 
ily. "  That  cats  do  eat  the  leaves  the  writer  knows  by  having 
seen  them,  but  only  the  cats  know  why,  and  they  will  forever  keep 
the  secret.  Perhaps  they  suffer  from  cat-colic  and  eat  the  catnip 
as  a  cure.  As  a  weed  on  the  farm  the  catnip  is  spreading  both 
by  seeds  and  rootstalks  and  it  gives  the  waysides  and  barnyards  a 
slovenly  appearance.  Remedies :  repeated  mowing  before  the  seeds 
ripen ;  digging  or  close  hoeing. 

84.  GLECOMA  HKOKKACKA  L.  Ground  Ivy.  Gill-over-the-Ground.  (P.  I.  2.) 
Stem  creeping  or  trailing,  12-18  inches  long,  with  upright  flowering 
branches ;  leaves  rounded  or  kidney-form,  broadly  scalloped,  long  stalked. 
Flowers  in  loose  axillary  clusters;  corolla  blue  or  violet,  twice  the  length 
of  the  calyx,  2-lipped;  stamens  4.  Nutlets  brown,  smooth.  (Figs.  8,  /;  82.) 

A  common  and  very  pretty  trailing  herb  occurring  in  shady 

grasslands,  especially  along  bor- 
ders of  thickets,  roadsides,  fence- 
rows  and  in  back  yards.  March— 
Oct.  In  rich  moist  soil  it  often 
forms  a  dense  growth  of  leaves 
and  stems  above  ground  and  root- 
stocks  below  which  crowds  out  the 
blue-grass  and  o  t  h  e  r  for  a  g  e 
plants.  In  such  places  its  leaves 
Fig.  82.  a,  a  flower.  (After  Watson.)  remain  green  all  winter  and  its 


120 


THE    INDFANA    WEED    BOOK. 


flowers  have  been  seen  as  early  as  March  18.     Then,  while  sitting 
on  an  old  log.  I  have  had 

Ivy  flowers  beside  me  peep 

Upward,  through  the  ether  blue, 
Seeing  stars  which  ever  keep 

Hidden  close  from  human  view. 

It  is  common  in  Europe  and  among  the  Swiss,  when  worn  on 
the  person  in  company  with  rue,  agrimony,  maiden-hair  and  broom 
straw,  is  thought  to  confer  fine  vision  and  to  point  out  the  pres- 
ence of  witches.  The  foliage  was  used  in  England  until  the  time 
of  Henry  YTTT  to  clarify  and  give  a  flavor  to  ale,  but  at  that  period 
was  replaced  by  hops.  The  odor  of"  the  leaves  is  exhaled  freely  and 
is  strongly  penetrating  and  peculiar,  yet  pleasing  to  him  who, 
through  long  experience,  has  learned  to  expect  it  on  his  daily  walks. 
The  plant  is  very  difficult  to  eradicate,  and  where  found  in  lawns 
and  yards,  resodding  or  spading  and  reseeding  must  be  done,  while 
in  fields  fences  should  be  removed  and  thorough  cultivation  used. 

So.     LEONURUS  CARDIACA  L.     Mother  wort.      (I'.  I.  2.) 

Stem  rather  stout,  erect,  somewhat  branched,  2-5  feet  tall ;  lower  leaves 
rounded,  slender-stalked,  2-5  cleft.  Flowers  in  dense  whorls,  in  the  axils 
of  the  narrower  3-cleft  upper  leaves;  calyx  teeth  spiny-tipped :  corolla  pale 
purple,  upper  lip  concave,  white  woolly,  lower  one  purple  dotted :  stamens 
4,  the  lower  or  front  pair  the  longer.  Nutlets  3-sided,  1/12  inch  long, 
dark,  smooth.  (Fig.  83.) 

This  is  another  common  social  weed,  occurring  about  the  sites 
of  old  houses,  barnyards,  fence-rows  and  waste  places  in  dry  or 

sandy  soils.  June-Sept.  Like  the 
catnip  and  ground  ivy  it  was 
brought  from  Europe,  but  is  more 
unsightly  and  useless  than  either  of 
them.  It  was  once  much  used  in 
nervous  and  hysterical  complaints 
and  an  infusion  of  its  leaves  taken 
at  bedtime  is  said  to  produce  sleep. 
In  March  one  often  sees  standing 
stiffly  erect,  like  brown  monuments 
of  the  past,  the  4-angled  stems  of 
last  year's  motherwort.  On  them 
the  dry  fruit  is  in  dense  sessile 
clusters  an  inch  and  a  half  apart. 

Fig.  83.      Corolla  split  and  rpread   to  show     «     .        -~        „    .,  ,1 

lower  lip  and  4  stamens;  fruit  on  left  above,  calyx     8    to    10    of    tlieSC    clusters    along    tllO 
on  right.     (After  Britton  and  Brown.)  .  . 

tapering  spike.    From  6  to  12  fruits 
are  in  each  cluster  and  from  each  5  needle-pointed  spines  project. 


WtifcDS   OF    THE    MINT   FAMILY 


121 


the  calyx  teeth  of  last  year's  flowers.  A  sure  protection  they  give 
the  enclosed  nutlets  from  seed-eating  bird  and  inquisitive  human, 
until  the  old  stem  is  ready  to  fall  to  earth.  Then  the  nutlets  are 
loosened  and  soon  up  from  them  new  plants  spring,  the  old  winter 
one  having  been  to  them  a  literal  ''mother- wort."  Remedies:  cul- 
tivation ;  repeated  cutting  with  hoe  or  spud  and  salting. 

80.     LAM  HTM  AMPT.EXICAULE  L.     Ilenbit.     Dead-nettle.     (A.  I.  2.) 

Steins  slender,  weak,  branched  from 
base,  somewhat  spreading,  (5-18  inches  long; 
lower  leaves  rounded,  scalloped,  slender- 
stalked,  upper  ones  sessile,  clasping.  Flowers 
few,  in  axillary  and  terminal  clusters;  calyx 
teeth  long,  erect,  not  spiny-tipped;  corolla 
purplish,  small,  slender,  tubular,  upper  lip 
bearded,  lower  one  si>otted.  Nutlets  gray  with 
whitish  markings,  curved,  3-sided,  1/20  inch 
long.  (Fig.  84.) 

Frequent  in  southern  Indiana,  less  so 
northward.  Occurs  around  dwellings  in 
lawns  and  gardens  and  along  roadsides 
and  borders  of  fields.  March-Oct.  In 
most  places  a  winter  annual,  forming  its 
root-leaves  in  late  autumn,  flowering  and 
ripening  its  seeds  in  early  spring.  Rem- 
edies: in  lawns,  deep  cutting  or  hand 
pulling;  in  fields,  thorough  cultivation; 


Fig.  84.     (After  Atkinson.) 


crowding  out  with  clover  or  other  Avinter  growing  crop. 


87.     STACHYS  PALUSTRIS  L.   Common  Hedge  Nettle. 

Stem  erect,  slender,  rough-hairy, 
somewhat  branched,  1-4  feet  high,  the 
angles  with  stiff  down-pointed  hairs; 
leaves  firm,  lanceolate  or  oblong,  sessile 
or  short-stalked,  toothed,  pointed. 
Flower  clusters  in  an  interrupted  spike, 
(5-10  flowers  in  a  whorl ;  corolla  tube 
not  longer  than  calyx,  purplish  or  pale 
red,  purple-spotted,  the  upper  lil>  pubes- 
cent ;  stamens  as  in  mothenvort.  Nut- 
lets egg-shaped,  rounded  above.  (Fig. 
85.) 

Abundant  in  moist  soil  along 
ditches  and  streams  and  in  marshes. 
June-Sept.  The  rough  hedge  nettle 
or  wound  wort  (S.  aspcra  Michx.) 
occurs  in  similar  places  and  differs 


Rough-weed.    (P.  N.  2.) 


85. 


Single  flower  above;    stamen    below. 
(After  Britton  and  Brown.) 


122 


THE    INDIANA    WKKD    BOOK. 


mainly  in  having  the  leaves  wider  and  slender-stalked,  the  corolla 
and  calyx  less  hairy.  Both  are  homely  weeds  which  for  the  most 
part  occupy  unused  ground  and  therefore  do  little  harm.  Rem- 
edies: draining  and  then  mowing  for  a  year  or  two;  cultivation. 

88.     HEDEOMA  PULEGIOIDES  L.     Pennyroyal.     (A.  N.  3.) 

Stem  slender,  erect,  much  branched,  finely  and  softly  hairy,  G-1S  inches 
high ;  leaves  ovate  to  oblong,  thin,  short-stalked,  few-toothed.  Flowers  in 
small  rather  loose  axillary  clusters;  teeth  of  upper  calyx  lip  triangular; 
corolhi  bluish-purple  with  darker  spots,  i  inch  long,  the  upper  lip  notched ; 
perfect  stamens  only  2.  Nutlets  egg-shaped,  finely  wrinkled,  1/32  inch 
long.  (Fi'g.  SO.) 

A  strongly  aromatic  and  well  known  little  herb,  very  common  in 
old  fields,  open  upland  wooded  pastures,  along  fence-rows  and  about 
old  stumps.  June-Oct.  The  average  stem 
of  pennyroyal  bears  12  whorls  or  clusters  of 
flowers,  each  whorl  having  8  to  10  flowers. 
Counting  100  flowers  to  the  stem  and  4  seeds 
to  the  flower,  each  plant  produces  at  least 
400  seeds.  When  it  grows  thickly  there  are 
at  least  40  stems  to  the  square  foot,  so  that 
we  have  16.000  seeds  of  a  single  plant  pro- 
duced on  each  square  foot  of  surface.  Thus 
do  the  wild  things  of  nature  hold  their  own. 
A  myriad  are  where  one  is  yet  to  be. 

When  the  rambler  through  some  old 
pasture  in  southern  Indiana  seats  himself 
beneath  the  shade  of  oak  or  maple  on  a  sum- 
mer day  the  first  thing  to  greet  him  is 
usually  the  odor  of  pennyroyal.  The  blos- 
soming plant  is  then  everywhere  abundant 
on  the  clay  lands  of  the  woodland  slopes. 
From  the  half  sterile  soil  its  rootlets  gather 
in  the  elements  of  the  essential  oil  which  ex- 
hales the  penetrating  odor.  Within  the  cells  of  leaf  and  stem  those 
elements  are  sorted  and  combined  and  by  a  process  of  chemical 
changes  the  oil  is  there  produced.  The  odor  is  so  strong  and  lasting 
that  it  readily  survives  the  winter  and  in  March  or  April,  in  places 
where  the  plant  has  grown,  it  is  mingled  with  that  of  the  earth  mold 
of  spring  to  form  a  pleasing  fragrance. 

An  infusion  of  the  leaves  of  pennyroyal  is  much  used  as  a  popu- 
lar remedy  to  promote  perspiration,  as  a  cure  for  colic  and  a  car- 
minative, and  may  be  taken  freely  without  much  regard  to  quantity. 


ower;  b 
atson.) 


WEEDS    OF    THE    MINT    FAMILY. 


Notwithstanding  its  fragrance  and  its  medicinal  value  the  plant  is 
much  too  common  in  places  where  the  blue-grass  ought  to  grow  and 
is -therefore  included  among  this  list  of  weeds.  Remedies:  in 
pastures,  mowing;  burning  over  in  autumn;  in  fields,  increased 
fertilization  and  fall  plowing. 

89.     MENTIIA  SPICATA  L.     Spearmint.     Common  Mint.     Our  Lady's  Mint. 

(P.  I.  3.) 

Hrect,  branched,  glabrous,  12-iS  indies  high,  spreading  by  leafy  run- 
ners; leaves  lanceolate,  sessile  or  short-stalked,  pointed,  sharply  toothed. 
Flowers  in  dense  whorls  in  narrow  terminal,  usually  interrupted  bracted 
spikes,  the  bracts  linear,  awl-pointed,  often  longer  than  the  flowers ; 
corolla  regular,  pale  purple,  4-clef  t ;  stamens  4.  Nutlets  egg-shaped, 
smooth. 

Very  common  in  low  wet  places,  especially  about  springs  and  in 
lowland  pastures  along  streams.  June-Sept.  Along  the  borders 
of  rippling  streams,  and  often  from  the  shallow  water,  spring  the 
stems  of  this  lowly,  pungent  semi-aquatic  herb  and  its  brother  the 
peppermint.  In  the  centuries  that  have  gone  by  how  many  stomach- 
aches, both  of  babies  and  mature  humans 
have  their  juices  cured?  At  the  base  of 
damp  shady  banks  in  old  woodland  pastures 
they  have  their  favorite  abiding  places. 
There  their  fragrance  permeates  unheeded 
the  surrounding  air.  Do  browsing  cattle 
ever  suffer  from  the  stomach-ache  and  find 
relief  in  the  juices  of  their  stems  and  leaves  ? 
Both  the  spearmint  and  the  peppermint 
(M.  pipcrita  L..  Fig.  87)  were  introduced 
from  Europe,  but  the  former  seems  to  be  the 
more  aggressive  and  wide  spreading.  It  is 
the  species  used  in  making  that  well  known 
and  seductive  beverage  of  the  southern 
States  known  as  "mint  julep.''  It  is  also 
used  extensivehr  in  medicine  and  extracts, 
but  much  less  so  than  peppermint,  the  latter 
being  cultivated  extensively  in  the  muck  soils  of  northern  Indiana, 
Michigan  and  elsewhere  for  its  essential  oil.  Both  spread  freely 
by  underground  stems  which  send  up  buds  at  short  intervals,  and 
where  too  plentiful  can  be  kept  in 'check  by  hoe-cutting  and  salt- 
ing, or  drainage  and  cultivation.. 


Fig.  87.      Peppermint;    a,    flower; 
b,  calyx.     (After  Watson.) 


124  THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 

THE  POTATO  FAMILY,— SOL ANACE^E. 

Chiefly  herbs  with  alternate  leaves  and  colorless  juice.  Flowers 
regular,  usually  in  cymes;  calyx  attached  to  the  ovary,  5-lobed; 
petals  united  into  a  wheel-shaped,  funnel-form,  bell-shaped  or 
tubular  5-lobed  corolla,  the  lobes  folded  in  the  bud ;  stamens  5,  in- 
serted on  the  tube  of  the  corolla  and  alternate  with  its  lobes.  Fruit 
usually  a  2-celled,  many-seeded  capsule  or  a  berry. 

A  large  family  in  the  tropics  but  very  few  native  to  North 
America.  Among  cultivated  forms  are  the  potato,  tomato,  red  pep- 
per, tobacco  and  egg-plant;  all  of  these  except  the  last  natives  of 
South  or  Central  America  and  introduced  from  there  to  Europe. 
Potatoes  from  South  America  were  introduced  into  England  in  1586 
and  into  Ireland  in  1610,  where  they  long  furnished  three-fifths  or 
more  of  the  entire  food  of  the  people,  and  so  gained  the  name  of 
Irish  potato.  Of  the  tobacco,  Dr.  Win.  Darlington,  a  noted  botanist 
of  Pennsylvania,  wrote  in  1847:  "The  extent  to  which  this 
nauseous  and  powerfully  narcotic  plant  is  cultivated — its  com- 
mercial importance — and  the  modes  in  which  it  is  employed  to 
gratify  the  senses — constitute,  altogether,  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able traits  in  the  history  of  civilized  man.  Were  we  not  so  practi- 
cally familiar  with  the  business,  we  should,  doubtless,  be  disposed 
to  regard  the  whole  story  of  the  tobacco  trade,  and  the  uses  made 
of  the  herb  as  an  absurd  and  extravagant  fable.  In  view  of  the 
facts  and  circumstances,  it  does  seem  like  sheer  affectation  on  our 
part,  to  pretend  to  be  astonished  at  the  indulgence  of  the  Chinese 
in  the  use  of  opium.  The  habitual  use  of  tobacco  is  always  more 
or  less  injurious  to  the  system — especially  the  nervous  system — 
and  in  many  instances  it  is  highly  deleterious.  I  speak  from  long 
observation,  and  a  personal  experience  of  many  years,  having' 
smoked  and  chewed  the  herb,  until  its  pernicious  effects  compelled 
me  to  es-cliew  it  altogether."  Although  not  a  user  of  the  weed, 
the  writer  heartily  endorses  every  word  of  the  above  statement. 

About  20  species  of  the  potato  family  grow  wild  in  Indiana, 
several  of  which  have  escaped  from  cultivation.  Among  them  are 
the  ground  cherries,  nightshades,  horse  nettles  and  jimson-weeds. 
These  include  several  weeds  of  the  first  class. 

00.     PIIYSALIS  rriiKscKXs  L.     Low  Il'jiiry  C rou mi-Cherry.     Strawberry  To- 
mato.     (A.   X.  2.) 

Stem  spreading,  angled,  much  branched,  more  or  less  velvety  hairy; 
leaves  thin,  ovate,  pointed,  entire  or  sparingly  toothed.  Flowers  solitary, 
axillary ;  calyx  bell-shaped,  5-lobed,  the  lobes  lanceolate,  as  long  as  the 
tube;  corolla  about  A  inch  broad,  bell-shaped,  dull  yellow  with  a  purplish 
center.  Fruiting  calyx  rather  small,  cone-shaped,  sharply  5-angled,  sunken 


WEEDS    OF   THE    POTATO    FAMILY. 


125 


at  base,  closed  at  tip  and  loosely  surrounding  the  green  or  yellow  berry. 
Seeds  numerous,  kidney-shaped,  flattened,  with  a  thin  edge,  finely  pitted. 
(Fig.  SS.) 

Very  common  in  lowland  sandy  fields  and  waste  places.  June- 
Get.  This  is  the  most  abundant  of  the  8  species  of  ground  cherries 
listed  from  the  State.  All  can  be  recognized  by  the  much  inflated 
bladdery  calyx  which  encloses  the  small  tomato-like  fruit.  They 

are  distinguished  one  from  another  by 
the  smoothness  or  hairiness  and  shape 
of  the  leaves,  by  the  color  and  size  of 
the  flowers  and  by  the  shape  of  the 
calyx  in  fruit,  The  one  above  de- 
scribed is  the  only  common  annual 
form.  Among  the  perennial  ones  with 
underground  rootstocks  the  clammy 
ground-cherry  (  P .  li ctcr o p liyll a 
Nees.),  having  large  heart-shaped 
leaves,  2  inches  or  more  long,  densely 
clothed  with  short  more  or  less  sticky 
hairs;  the  Virginia  ground-cherry 
(P.  virgimana  Mill.),  with  ovate, 
sparsely  hairy  leaves  and  fruiting 
calyx  cone-shaped,  5-angled  and  deeply  sunken  at  the  base,  and  the 
prairie  ground-cherry  (P.  lanccolata  Michx.),  leaves  narrow,  lance- 
olate or  spoon-shaped,  fruiting  calyx  rounded,  egg-shaped,  scarcely 
angled  and  little  sunken  at  the  base,  are  the  common  forms.  Rem- 
edies: thorough  cultivation;  mowing  or  cutting  the  perennial 
forms  two  or  three  times  each  season. 

1>1.     SOLANUM   CAROLINENSE  L.     Horse  Nettle.     Bull  Nettle.     Sand  Brier. 

Tread -soft.      (P.  N.  1.) 

Erect,  branched,  1-2  feet  high,  the  branches,  leaf-stalks  and  mid-ribs 
of  the  leaves  armed  with  numerous  short,  stout,  awl-shaped  yellow 
prickles ;  loaves  ohlong  or  ovate,  2-6  inches  long,  cut-lobed  or  toothed, 
covered  with  numerous  minute  star-shaped  hairs.  Flowers  in  loose  clus- 
ters; calyx  lobes  tapering;  corolla  wheel  -shaped,  purplish  or  white.  Berry 
naked,  orange-yellow,  about  4  inch  broad,  closely  resembling  that  of  the 
potato.  Seeds  numerous,  straw-color,  flat,  rounded  or  ovate,  1/10  inch 
long.  (Figs.  10,  rf;  11,  c,  89.) 

A  very  common  and  pernicious  weed  growing  in  both  culti- 
vated ground  and  pasture  land,  especially  in  dry  and  sandy  soils. 
Alay-8ept.  It  is  a  southern  species  which  lias  spread  widely  both 
by  strong  rootstocks  and  numerous  seeds.  In  many  places  in  the 
southern  two-thirds  of  Indiana  it  has,  in  recent  years,  become  one 


Fig. 


Fruit  enclosed  in  calyx.     (After 
Britton  and  Brown.) 


126 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


Fig.  89.     (After  Vasey.) 


of  the  most  troublesome  of  corn-field  weeds.     In  pastures  it  is  also 

very  common  and  annoying, 
often  growing  in  patches  so 
thick  as  to  monopolize  the  soil. 
Nothing  but  sheep  among  live 
stock  will  eat  it,  and  they  feed 
mostly  upon  the  berries  and  so 
scatter  widely  the  seeds.  It  is 
attacked  by  a  leaf-beetle  (Lep- 
tiiwtarsa  juncta  Germ.)  very 
similar  to  the  Colorado  potato 
beetle.  This  beetle  also  preys 
upon  some  of  the  ground- 
cherries,  but  unfortunately  it 
is  not  very  common.  The  plant 
is  so  tenacious  of  life  that  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  eradicate 
where  it  once  gets  a  good  start, 
as  it  never  relinquishes  any 
ground  once  occupied.  One 
farmer  in  Lawrence  County  stated  that  he  had  proven  "that  their 
roots  will  live  10  years  under  a  heap  of  sawdust  and  grow  as  soon 
as  the  dust  is  removed."  The  first 
specimen  on  farms  not  already  in- 
fested should  be  promptly  de- 
stroyed. Kernedies:  repeated  cut- 
ting with  hoe  or  spud  and  salting ; 
alternate  cultivation  and  heavy 
cropping  with  clover. 

92.       SOLANUM      ROSTKATUM     Dlllial. 

Texas  Nettle.     Prickly  Potato. 

Buffalo-bur.    P  r  i  c  k  1  y  N  i  g  li  t - 

shade.  (A.  X.  1.) 
Erect,  branching.  1-2  feet  high, 
very  thickly  armed  with  yellow,  awl- 
shaped  prickles  and  densely  covered 
with  5-8-rayed  hairs ;  leaves  2-5 
inches  long,  more  or  less  divided  or 
cut-Iobed.  Flowers  in  loose  clusters 
of  3-f>,  yello\v,  about  1  inch  broad ; 
calyx  densely  prickly,  surrounding  and 
wholly  enclosing  the  berry,  its  prickles 
becoming  as  long  as  the  fruit.  Seeds 
kidney-form,  black  or  greenish.  1/10  inch  long,  strongly  pitted.  (Fig.  90.) 


Fig.  90.    a,  spray  of  mature  plant  with  flowers  and 
fruit;  b,  flower;  c,  seed.     (After  Dewey.) 


WEEDS   OF    THE    POTATO    FAMILY. 


127 


A  weed  of  the  western  plains  which,  through  seed  in  hay  and 
by  mil  WHYS,  is  gradually  spreading  eastward.  Occurs  in  dry  up- 
hind  or  sandy  lowland  soil.  May-Sept.  It  was  first  taken  by  the. 
writer  in  Vigo  County  in  1888,  and  in  the  State  catalogue  of  plants 
is  listed  from  six  other  widely  scattered  counties.  It  has  been  re- 
corded as  being  one  of  the  34  worst  weeds  in  the  United  States* 
and  should  be  destroyed  on  sight.  Tn  some  places  it  is  called  the 
"potato  bug  plant."  as  it  was  the  original  food  of  the  Colorado 
potato  beetle.  When,  about  1865,  potato  cultivation  began  in  Colo- 
rado and  Nebraska,  the  beetle  found  the  new  plant  more  to  its 
liking  and  less  spiny  to  crawl  over,  and  practically  forsook  its  old 
host,  to  the  great  detriment  of  potato  growers  throughout  the  land. 
The  plant  has  been  aptly  described  as  appearing  like  a  cross  be- 
tween a  thistle  and  a  potato.  Being  an  annual  it  can  be  easily 
controlled  by  pulling  or  cutting  before  the  berries  ripen. 

{')'•!.  SOLANUM  NIGBUM  L.  Black  Nightshade.  Deadly  Nightshade.  (A.  N.  2.) 
Erect,  angular,  much  branched,  glabrous  or  sparingly  hairy,  1-2  feet 
high;  leaves  ovate,  stalked,  wavy-toothed,  2-4  inches  long,  bases  oblique. 
Flowers  white,  drooping,  in  small  umbel-like  clusters.  Berries  globular, 
smooth,  black,  juicy,  1/3  inch  in  diameter.  (Figs.  10,  <l ;  91.) 


1 


Common  in  gardens,  old  fields  and 
shaded  waste  grounds,  especially  about 
dwellings  and  outbuildings.  July-Oct. 
While  probably  a  native  it  has  been 
widely  distributed  in  nearly  all  countries 
as  a  weed.  It  is  a  homely,  ill-smelling 
poisonous  plant  which  should  be  kept 
away  from  the  vicinity  of  all  dwellings  as 
its  grape-like  berries  are  apt  to  be  eaten 
by  children  with  serious  results,  and 
calves,  sheep  and  hogs  are  often  poisoned 
by  them.  The  principal  symptoms  of  the 
poison  are  dilation  of  the  pupil  of  the  ©ye, 
stupefaction,  staggering,  loss  of  speech, 
feeling  and  consciousness.  Like  other  an- 
nuals, the  plant  may  be  easily  eradicated 
by  pulling  or  cutting  before  the  berries 
mature. 

The  climbing  nightshade  or  bitter- 
sweet (Solanum  dulcamara  L.)  is  an  introduced  and  closely  allied 
species,  whose  stem  is  climbing  or  straggling,  2-10  feet  long,  with 

"Halstead,  Bot.  Gaz.,  April,  1889. 


Fig.  91.     (After  Ohcsnut.) 


128 


TitE    INDIANA    WEED   tH)OT\. 


ovate  or  hastate  pointed  leaves,  blue  wheel-shaped  flowers  and  oval 
red  berries.  It  is  also  said  to  be  poisonous  and  should  be  kept  down 
in  the  same  manner.  Another  "bitter-sweet"  (Celaxtrus  scandcns 
L.)  is  a  handsome  wild  twining  vine  of  the  Wahoo  Family,  which 
is  ornamental  and  not  injurious, 

t)4.     DATURA  STRAMONIUM  L.     jimson-weect.     Thorn  Apple.     Devil's  Apple 

(A.  I.  1.) 

Stem  green,  stout,  widely  branched,  1-5  feet  high ;  leaves  thin,  ovate, 
scallop-toothed,  pointed,  3-8  inches  long.  Flowers  large,  solitary,  erect, 
short-stalked;  corolla  white,  funnel-form,  3-4  inches  long;  calyx  tubular, 
i  the  length  of  corolla.  Capsule  dry,  egg-shaped,  about  2  inches  long, 
densely  prickly,  the  lower  prickles  shorter.  Seeds  black,  kidney-form, 
Wrinkled  and  finely  pitted,  4  itich  long.  (Fig.  92.) 

A  common,  very  ill-smelling,  coarse  and  homely  weed,  occurring 
in  rich  soil  about  barnyards,  sites  of  old  strawstacks  and  dwellings, 

manure  heaps,  etc.  June-Sept.  An- 
other species,  the  purple  jimson  or 
purple  thorn-apple  (D.  tatula  L.), 
stem  purple,  more  slender  and  usually 
taller,  corolla  violet  or  purplish,  its 
tube  nearly  white,  and  prickles  of  cap- 
sule all  long,  occurs  with  it  or  in 
similar  places  and  is  equally  common 
and  stinking.  The  first  named  came 
originally  from  Asia  and  the  purple 
species  from  Central  America.  The 
name  "jimson-weed"  is  a  corruption 
of  Jamestown  weed  and  was  given 
both  because  they  first  appeared  in 
this  country  about  Jamestown,  Vir- 
ginia. Both  species  are  powerfully 
narcotic  and  poisonous  and  equally 

Fig.  92.    a,  flowering  spray;  6,  fruiting  capsule,     obnoxious  and  Unsightly  Weeds  which 

every  farmer  possessing  the  instinct. 

of  neatness  should  keep  from  his  premises.  Remedies:  pulling  or 
cutting  before  the  seed  matures:  cultivation. 

Children  are  frequently  poisoned  by  eating  the  leaves  or  seeds 
or  sucking  the  flowers,  and  cattle  are  known  to  have  been  poisoned 
by  eating  the  leaves  of  young  plants  in  hay.  The  poison  causes 
headache,  nausea  and  great  thirst,  followed  by  dilated  pupils,  loss 
of  sight  and,  in  extreme  cases,  convulsions  and  death. 

The  dried  leaves  and  seeds  of  both  jimson-weeds  are  powerful 


WEEDS  OF  THE  ElCiWORT  FAMrhY.  120 

anodynes  and  are  much  used  in  medicine,  especially  for  asthma  and 
kindred  troubles.  They  are  mostly  imported,  though  they  can  be 
easily  gathered  and  prepared  for  sale  by  farm  boys  and  girls.  The 
leaves  should  be  stripped  from  the  plant  when  the  latter  is  in 
flower,  and  carefully  dried  in  the  sbado.  In  the  collecting  of  the 
seed  the  capsules  should  be  picked  when  they  are  quite  ripe  but  yet 
green  in  color,  and  dried  for  a  few  days,  when  they  will  burst  and 
allow  the  seeds  to  be  shaken  out.  These  should  then  be  thoroughly 
dried.  The  leaves  are  sold  under  the  name  of  stramonium  at  2  to 
8  cents  a  pound :  while  the  seeds  bring  3  to  7  cents  a  pound. 

THE  FIGWORT  FAMILY.— SCROPHULARIACE^. 

Chiefly  herbs  with  perfect,  complete  and  usually  irregular  flow- 
ers, having  the  calyx  4-5-toothed,  -cleft  or  -divided ;  corolla  with  the 
petals  united,  usually  2-lipped ;  stamens  2-4,  rarely  5,  inserted  on 
the  corolla  and  alternate  with  its  lobes;  ovary  2-celled  with  many 
ovules..  Fruit  a  2-celled  and  usually  many  seeded  capsule  which 
splits  lengthwise. 

A  family  of  2,500  or  more  known  species  widely  distributed  but 
most  abundant  in  temperate  regions.  The  flowers,  which  are  mostly 
2-lipped,  resemble  those  of  the  mints,  but  the  plants  are  usually 
easily  distinguished  from  the  mints,  by  the  cylindric  stems  and  2- 
celled,  many  seeded  pods.  Moreover  the  figworts  are  mostly  bitter- 
ish whereas  the  mints  are  fragrant  or  aromatic.  Among  the  more 
common  of  the  50  or  more  wild  forms  growing  in  the  State  are  the 
mullens.  toad-flaxes,  turtle-heads,  beard-tongues,  monkey-flowers, 
speedwells,  foxgloves,  gerardias,  painted-cups  and  louseworts.  Only 
a  half  dozen  or  so  are  weeds  and  of  these  only  the  common  mullen 
belongs  to  the  first  class. 

1)5.     YKKBASCTM   TIIAPSUS    L.     Common    Mullen.     Woolly   Mullen.     Velvet 

Phuit.     Aaron's  Rod.     (B.I.I.) 

Stem  stout,  erect,  densely  woolly,  wing-angled  by  the  bases  of  the 
leaves,  2-7  feet  high;  leaves  alternate,  oblong,  thick.  4-12  inches  long. 
Flowers  yellow,  sessile,  in  a  long,  dense  cylindrical  spike;  corolla  wheel- 
shaped;  stamens  5,  unequal,  the  .3  upper  or  shorter  ones  woolly.  Cap- 
sules slightly  longer  than  the  calyx.  Seeds  rough,  not  wi'nged.  (Fig.  93.) 

A  very  common  and  well  known  weed,  occurring  in  dry  or 
sandy  soil  along  roadsides  and  embankments,  and  especially  on  the 
slopes  of  old  abandoned  fields  and  in  poor  half-barren  pastures. 
June-Sept.  The  plant  produces  the  first  year  a  broad,  thick  and 
veiy  handsome  rosette  of  root  leaves  which,  during  the  winter,  He 


130 


THE   INDIANA   WEED   BOOIv. 


close  to  the  ground.  They,  as  well  as  the  stem  leaves,  have  much 
the  feeling  of  flannel,  being  covered  with  fine  branching  hairs  that 
interlace  and  form  a  felt-like  surface.  This  rosette  aids  in  con- 
serving the  water  about  the  roots,  the  felt  covering  protecting  the 
leaves  from  cold  in  winter  and  the  fierce  heat  rays  in  summer,  and 
also  rendering  them  unpalatable  to  sheep  and 
cattle.  The  leaves  in  the  rosette  vary  in 
length  so  as  not  to  wholly  cut  off  the  sunshine 
one  from  another  and  those  of  the  stem  are 
directed  upward  so  as  to  cast  little  shade  on 
those  below.  From  the  center  of  the  rosette 
springs  the  stout  flowering  stalk  of  the  second 
season. 

The  rosette  furnishes  shelter  and  protection 
to  many  an  insect  during  the  long  winter 
months.  On  one  January  day  the  writer 
found  snugly  at  home,  between  and  beneath  the 
leaves  of  a  single  mullen,  4  cutworms,  7  chinch- 
bugs,  3  tarnished  plant  bugs  and  a  number  of 
others  less  injurious,  enough  to  have  produced 
10,000  like  themselves  the  next  season.  By 
keeping  the  farm  and  roadsides  clear  of  mullen 
and  similar  plants,  the  number  of  injurious  in- 
sects will  be  greatly  lessened  as  they  will  lack 
suitable  places  to  hibernate.  In  late  sura  me r, 
when  the  rosette  and  lower  stem  leaves  are 
dead  and  the  plant  is  nearly  through  its  bloom- 
ing, the  mullen  stalk  is  a  very  rough  and 
homely  looking  object,  only  the  few  golden 
yellow  flowers  at  top  showing  a  bit  of  beauty. 
There  is  no  surer  evidence  of  a  negligent 
farmer  than  to  see  his  fields  overrun  with  these  ungainly  stalks. 
Producing  as  it  does  a  vast  number  of  seeds  which  will  retain  their 
vitality  for  years,  the  plant  can  only  be  kept  down  by  killing  be- 
fore its  seeds  ripen.  This  can  best  be  done  by  deep  cutting  with 
hoe  or  spud  in  late  autumn  or  early  spring. 

The  leaves  and  petals  of  the  mullen  are  used  extensively  in 
medicine  for  coughs,  catarrh,  nervousness  and  inflammation.  The 
dried  leaves  are  said  to  be  often  smoked  like  tobacco  to  relieve  nasal 
catarrh  and  affections  of  the  throat,  and  an  infusion  of  the  roots 
is  a  popular  country  remedy  for  malaria,.  In  gathering  the  leaves 
and  petals  for  sale  both  should  be  collected  when  the  plant  is  in 


Fig.  93.     (After  Henkel.) 


WEEDS  OF  TUB  FIGWORT  FAMILY.  131 

blossom  and  carefully  and  thoroughly  dried.  The  petals  absorb 
moisture  quickly  and  when  dry  must  be  kept  in  tightly  corked 
bottles.  Both  are  sold  under  the  name  of  verbascum.  the  leaves 
bringing  from  3  to  5  cents  and  the  petals  25  to  75  cents  a  pound. 
Although  an  immigrant  from  Europe,  it  is  said  to  be  much  more 
common  in  its  adopted  country — "the  land  of  the  free"-  -  not  only 
for  humans  but  for  weeds.  John  Burroughs  in  his  "October 
Abroad"  says:  "I  have  come  three  thousand  miles  to  see  the  mill- 
ion cultivated  in  a  garden  and  christened  'the  velvet  plant.'  :  In 
Europe  it  has  more  than  20  common  names,  one  of  which  is  "hag- 
taper,"  as  its  stalks  were  once  used  for  candle  wicks  and  funeral 
torches  and  were  supposed  to  be  borne  about  by  witches  while 
tending  their  cauldrons  of  stewing  herbs. 

90.       A7ERBASCi:M    BLATTARIA   L.      Moth    Mlllleil.        (B.    I.    2.) 

Erect,  slender,  glabrous,  simple,  2-4  feet  high ;  upper  leaves  oblong  or 
ovate,  toothed,  pointed,  sessile  or  clasping,  4-2  inches  long;  lower  and 
basal  ones  often  short-stalked,  sometimes  1  foot  long.  Flowers  short- 
stemmed  in  a  long  slender  raceme;  corolla  yellow  or  cream-colored  with 
a  brown  or  purplish  eye;  stamens  with  violet  hairs.  Seeds  very  small. 
6- sided,  brown,  pitted. 

Frequent  in  open  pastures,  timothy  meadows  and  along  road- 
sides in  dry  soil.  June-Oct.  Both  it  and  the  common  mullen 
differ  from  other  figworts  in  having  wheel-shaped,  not  2-lipped, 
corollas  and  5  instead  of  2  or  4  stamens.  The  moth  mullen  is  said 
to  repel  cockroaches,  whence  the  specific  name  blaffdi'ift,  the  iirst 
name  of  the  more  common  roach  being  Blatta.  The  odor  ol'  its 
flowers  is  delicate  and  pleasing,  sufficient  to  attract  unto  themselves 
many  a  moth  and  other  insect.  One  which  is  usually  to  be  found 
on  it  and  its  larger  cousin,  is  a  small,  thick-bodied,  grayish  snout 
beetle,*  whose  young  live  in  the  pods  and  feed  upon  the  mullen 
seeds.  As  a  weed  of  timothy  meadows  the  moth  mullen  takes  high 
rank  since  its  seeds  are  very  common  among  those  of  timothy. 
Remedies :  hoe  cutting  in  early  spring ;  cultivation  ;  clean  timothy 
seed. 

97.  LINARIA  LIN  ARIA  L.  Butter  and  Eggs.  Toad-flax.  Eanstead.  (P.  I.  2.) 
Stems  slender,  erect,  pale  green,  1-3  feet  high  ;  leaves  very  numerous, 
mostly  alternate,  linear,  sessile,  entire.  Flowers  in  a  dense  terminal  raceme; 
corolla  2-lipped,  spurred  at  the  base,  pale  yellow,  the  throat  orange-colored, 
the  awl-shaped  spur  darker  and  almost  as  long  as  the  remainder  of  Hit; 
corolla;  stamens  4,  2  long,  2  short.  Seeds  numerous,  black,  winged,  1/12 
inch  across.  (Fig.  94.) 


*Gymnetron  teter  Fat). 


132 


THE    INDIAN  V    WEED    BOOK. 


Frequent  in  dense  tufts  or  patches  along  banks,  roadsides  and 
railways  where  it  has  escaped  from  cultivation.     June-Sept.     In 

the  country  it  is  a  well  known 
plant  which  a  half  century  ago  was 
grown  for  ornament  much  more 
commonly  than  now.  In  many  of 
the  eastern  States  it  has  spread 
over  upland  meadows  and  pastures 
until  H  is  accounted  one  of  the 
worst  of  weeds,  and  it  is  very  likely 

^\     s$^f  [k          ^     *'°  ^°  ^e  same  "1  Indiana.     It  has 
\    '    — -TtT  a    disagreeable   odor   and   spreads 

both  by  underground  stems  and 
seeds,  taking  almost  exclusive  pos- 
session of  the  soil.  Although  the 
flowers  are  somewhat  showy  it  is  a 
weed  which  should  be  destroyed 
before  it  is  too  late  to  prevent  ex- 
tensive spreading.  Remedies :  con- 
tinuous cultivation  and  heavy  crop- 
Fig.  94.  Showing  flower  and  seed.  (After  Vasey.)  ping;  cutting  Several  tilHCS  Cadi 

season  and  then  salting  or  using  coal-oil  or  sulphuric  acid  on  the 
rootstocks. 


OS.       SCROPHULARIA    MARYLANIHCA    L.       IMleWOl't. 

Stem  slender,  4-angled,  erect,  widely 
branched,  3-10  feet  high ;  leaves  ovate, 
long-stalked,  pointed,  sharply  toothed, 
3-12  inches  long.  Flowers  small,  nu- 
merous, in  loose,  compound  cymes ; 
corolla  irregular  or  somewhat  2-lipped, 
dull  green  without,  brownish-purple 
within,  the  upper  lip  erect,  the  lower 
spreading ;  perfect  stamens  4.  the  fifth 
represented  by  a  deep  purple  scale  on 
the  roof  of  the  corolla  tube.  Capsule 
egg-shaped,  many-seeded.  Seeds  dull 
brown.  1/32  Irch  long,  grooved  and 
roughened.  (Fig.  05.) 


Figwort.      (P.  N.  3.) 


Fig.  95.    Single  flower  above;  fruit  below. 
(After  Britton  and  Brown.) 


Frequent  along  fence-rows,  bor- 
ders of  thickets  and  damp  woods  in 
rich  moist  soil.  June-Get.  It  varies 
greatly  in  height  and  date  of  blooming.  The  name  Scrophularia 
was  given  this  or  a  closely  allied  plant  because  it  is  used  as  a  remedy 
for  scrofula  and  other  skin  diseases,  also  as  an  anodyne  to  allay 


WEEDS  OF  THE  FIGWORT  FAMILY.  138 

restlessness,  insomnia.,  etc.  The  roots  are  the  part  used,  and  if 
gathered  for  sale  should  he  thoroughly  eleaned  and  dried.  Rem- 
edies :  pulling  or  grubbing ;  cutting  several  times  each  season. 

00.     VKKONICA  PKRKGRINA  L.     Purslane  Speedwell.    Neckweed.     (A.  N.  2.) 

Stem  erect  or  ascending,  glabrous,  simple  or  branched,  3-0  inches 
high;  lower  leaves  opposite,  oval  or  oblong,  short-stalked;  upper  ones 
alternate,  oblong  or  linear,  sessile,  each  with  a  short-stalked  flower  in  its 
axil.  Flowers  very  small,  nearly  white;  corolla  wheel-shaped,  shorter  than 
calyx.  Capsule  nearly  circular,  notched  above,  many  seeded.  Seeds  flat. 
very  small. 

Common  in  moist  waste  and  cultivated  grounds,  along  roadsides, 
in  lawns,  etc.  April— Oct.  The  name  neckweed  was  given  it  from 
its  formerly  being  used  in  scrofulous  affections  of  the  neck.  This 
is  the  most  common  of  a  small  group  of  weedy  plants,  known  as 
speedwells  or  veronicas,  All  have  only  two  stamens  inserted  at 
the  base  of  the  upper  lobe  of  the  4-parted,  wheel-shaped  corolla. 
Most  of  them  are  less  than  a  foot  high,  and  the  leaves  are  in  part 
or  all  opposite,  the  flowers  pale  blue  or  white  and  the  capsule  or 
pod  flat,  usually  heart-shaped  or  notched  above.  They  are  named 
for  St.  Veronica  who,  according  to  an  old  tradition,  was  a  Jewish 
maiden  who  wiped  with  her  handkerchief  the  drops  of  anguish 
from  the  face  of  the  Savior  when  the  latter  was  on  the  way  to  the 
cross.  The  sacred  features  remained  impressed  upon  the  linen  and 
from  the  fancied  resemblance  of  the  blossoms  of  the  speedwells  to 
this  hallowed  relic,  the  name  Veronica  was  given  them.  In  Ger- 
many the  speedwell  is  known  as  the  flower  of  truth  and  the  emblem 
of  friendship.  Its  name,  like  the  forget-me-not,  is  a  good  wish  at 
parting. 

Tn  addition  to  the  one  de- 
scribed three  others  which  are 
common  throughout  the  State  are 
(a)  the  corn  speedwell  (V.  arv en- 
sis  L.  ),  annual,  stem  spreading, 
leaves  pubescent,  toothed,  flowers 
solitary  in  the  axils,  capsule  heart- 
shaped,  deeply  notched;  (6)  the 
common  speedwell  (V.  offiri-nalis 
L.,  "Fig.  f)6),  perennial,  prostrate, 
flowers  in  terminal  spike-like  ra- 

Fig.%.    Common  speedwell;   a,  flower;   b,  fruit,         <'MMieS,   k'HVOS   OVJll,    stalked,    hairy, 

capsule   triangular,   broadly   and 
shallowly  notched,  and  (c)  the  thyme-leaved  speedwell  (V.  serpyl- 


134 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


lifolia  L. ) ,  perennial,  flowers  in  terminal  spikes,  leaves  all  opposite, 
glabrous,  capsule  broader  than  long,  obtusely  notched.  All  begin 
flowering  in  March  or  April  and  continue  until  frost.  They  are 
weeds  in  that  they  grow  where  grass  or  other  crops  should  be  found. 
Remedies:  thorough  cultivation;  crowding  out  with  clover;  pulling 
or  cutting  from  laAvns  and  yards. 

THE  TRUMPET-CREEPER  FAMILY.— B1GNONIACE.K. 

Woody  vines  or  trees  with  opposite  compound  or  simple  leaves 
and  large  showy  clustered  or  axillary  flowers.  Corolla  funnel- 
form,  bell-shaped  or  tubular,  5-lobed  and  somewhat  2-lipped;  sta- 
mens 2  or  4,  inserted  on  the  tube  of  the  corolla  and  alternate1  \vith 
its  lobes;  ovary  2-celled,  many  ovuled.  Fruit  a  2-valved  capsule, 
opening  lengthwise.  Seeds  flat,  transverse,  winged. 

Chiefly  a  tropical  family  represented  in  the  eastern  United 
States  and  Indiana  by  only  4  species,  viz.,  the  cross-vine,  a  hand- 
some woody  vine  of  southern  range,  found  in  Indiana  only  in  the 
lower  Wabash  valley ;  two  species  of  catalpa  trees  and  the  trumpet- 
creeper.  The  latter  is  often  very  troublesome  and  is  therefore  in- 
cluded in  this  list  of  weeds 

100.  TECOMA  RADICANS  L.  Trumpet-creeper.  Trumpet-flower.  (P.  N.  2.) 
A  woody  vine,  climbing  to  a  height  of  20  to  40  feet  by  means  of  air 

rootlets ;    leaves    pinnate    or    7-11 -divided ;    leaflets    ovate,    short-stalked, 

sharply  toothed.     Flowers  in  clusters  of  2-9:  calyx  5-toothed,  leathery; 

corolla  orange  and  scarlet,  2-3  inches  long.  Capsules  robust.  4-6  inches 

long,  narrowed  at  both  ends.  Seeds  broadly 
winged  on  the  edges,  the  wings  frayed.  (Fig. 
97.) 

Frequent  along  fence-rows,  borders 
of  thickets,  etc.,  especially  in  sandy  allu- 
vial soils.  June-Aug.  Common  in  culti- 
vation in  the  northern  part  of  the  State 
but  southward,  where  it  is  native,  the 
numerous  sprouts  give  much  trouble  in 
meadows  and  cultivated  fields,  where  they 
spring  up  by  hundreds  in  strips  along 
the  fences  or  wherever  the  old  plant  can 
get  some  sort  of  support,  being  especially 
annoying  in  the  river  bottom  fields  of  the 
larger  streams.  Remedies:  repeated  grub- 
bing; abandonment  of  fences  and  thor- 
ough cultivation  of  the  infested  areas, 


Fig.  97.     Spray  of  flowers:   a,  pod;  I, 
Jl^wiiiged  seed.     (After  Watson.) 


WEEDS   OF  THE   PLANTAIN   FAMILY. 

Where  kept  within  bounds  the  trumpet-creeper  is  queen  of  all 
our  twining  or  trailing  shrubs.  When  in  the  prime  of  the  bloom- 
ing period  its  large  pinnate  leaves  out-rival  the  emerald  in  their 
shade  of  green.  Then,  as  one  drives  along  some  country  lane  or 
roadway,  high  in  air  it  can  be  seen,  clambering  over  fence  stake 
and  bushy  shrub,  its  great  orange  and  scarlet  flowers  conspicuous 
for  rods  away  and  attracting  unto  themselves  many  a  humming- 
bird and  bumble-bee.  Tis  in  the  angles  of  old  rail  fences  that  it 
finds  a  home  most  congenial  to  its  taste.  There  rail  and  bush  and 
shrub  furnish  a  ready  support  to  which  its  aerial  rootlets  freely 
cling,  and  there  it  forms  many  a  snug  retreat  in  which  the  nest 
of  woodland  songster  is  securely  hidden. 

THE  PLANTAIN  FAMILY.— PLANTAGTNACEyE. 

Chiefly  stemless  herbs  with  basal  leaves  in  clumps,  and  small,  in- 
conspicuous flowers  in  dense  terminal  spikes  or  heads  on  leafless 
flower-stalks.  Calyx  4-parted,  persistent ;  corolla  4-lobed,  thin,  dry, 
membranous,  withering  but  remaining  on  the  spike ;  stamens  4, 
rarely  2,  inserted  on  the  tube  of  the  corolla;  ovary  2-celled.  Fruit 
a  2-celled  several  seeded  capsule,  which  opens  by  the  top  falling 
away  as  a  lid.  (Figs.  13,  a-  14,  c.) 

A  family  of  about  200  species,  represented  in  Indiana  by  8 
species  of  plantain  or  ribwort  belonging  to  the  genus  Plantago. 
All  have  the  leaves  strongly  ribbed  and  the  small  whitish  flowers 
borne  in  a  bracted  spike  or  head  on  a  leafless  stalk  which  springs 
from  the  center  of  the  basal  tuft  of  leaves.  Among  the  8  two  are 
weeds  of  the  first  class,  while  a  third  promises  as  bad.  The  stems 
of  all  are  invisible,  being  short  and  underground,  and  as  the  flowers 
of  all  depend  upon  the  wind  to  carry  the  pollen,  the  corolla  is 
therefore  almost  useless  and  has  lost  whatever  color  it  may  have 
once  possessed.  The  seeds  of  all  plantains  are  more  annoying  than 
the  weeds  themselves,  causing  much  extra,  expense  in  cleaning  the 
seeds  of  grasses  and  Clover,  with  which  they  are  very  common. 

To  bring  about  that  cross-fertilization  so  necessary  to  the  suc- 
cess of  plant  life,  the  plantains  have  during  the  ages  past  evolved 
an  ingenious  method.  Each  plantain  flower  has  both  stamens  and 
pistils  but  the  pistils  mature  first  and  are  fertilized  by  pollen 
blown  to  them  from  some  neighboring  plant.  After  the  pistils 
have  matured  the  stamens  ripen,  the  anthers  hanging  out  on  their 
long  slender  filaments  or  stalks  so  as  to  have  their  pollen  discharged 
by  every  passing  breeze.  On  each  spike  the  lower  flowers  open 


136 


TirK    INDIANA    WKRD    BOOK. 


first  and  on  one-half  through  blooming  the  stamens  of  the  lower 
part  are  shedding  their  pollen  while  the  pistils  of  the  upper  por- 
tion are  being  fertilized.  Thus  the  pollen  cannot  fall  from  the  sta- 
mens to  another  flower  on  the  same  stalk  and  self-fertilization  is 
avoided. 

101.     PI.ANTAGO  .MAJOR  L.    Common  Dooryard  Plantain.    Greater  Plantain. 
(P.   I.   1.) 

Leaves  spreading  or  half  erect, 
long-stalked,  broadly  ovate,  smooth 
or  slightly  hairy,  dull  pointed,  3-11 
ribbed,  rounded  at  base,  1-10  inches 
long.  Spikes  several,  dense,  blunt  at 
top,  2-10  inches  long.  Capmile  egg- 
shaped,  the  top  separating  at  about 
the  middle,  8-16  seeded.  Seeds 
angled,  very  irregular  in  shape, 
greenish-brown  to  black,  1/1G  inch 
long,  about  *  as  wide.  (Fig.  98.) 

Very  common  in  dooryards, 
along  walks  and  roadsides  and  in 
enriched  cultivated  fields.  May- 
Gel,  This  plantain  delights  in  a 
compact  clayey  soil,  and  with  the 
knot-grass  combats  most  fiercely 
for  supremacy  along  the  sides  of 
narrow  footpaths  in  unkempt  country  dooryards  and  the  cow-paths 
of  old  pastures.  It  is  one  of  the  most  common  and  best  known  of 
the  social  weeds  and  by  the  Indians  was  known  as  the  "white  man's 
foot."  Longfellow  refers  to  it  by  this  name  when  in  speaking  of 
the  English  settlers  in  his  poem  Hiawatha,  he  says: 

"Wheresoever  they  tread,  beneath  them 
Springs  a  flower  unknown  among  us, 
Springs  the  white  man's  foot  in  blossom." 

Hardy,  tough  and  difficult  to  eradicate,  its  thick  rootstocks  and 
many  seeds  give  it  more  tban  an  average  chance  in  the  struggle  for 
life.  It  is  especially  troublesome  in  manured  land  sown  to  clover, 
as  its  seeds  are  very  common  among  those  of  clover.  Remedies : 
continuous  cultivation ;  crowding  out  with  clover  or  rye ;  reseeding 
bare  spots  in  meadows  and  pastures;  hand  pulling  or  cutting  below 
the  crown  with  sharp  knife,  hoe  or  spud  in  yards. 

The  leaves  of  the  dooryard  plantain  were  formerly  much  used 
as  a  convenient  and  popular  dressing  for  wounds,  blisters  and  other 
sores.  Two  of  the  old  English  names  for  it  are  "wound-weed"  and 


swer;  6,  fruit,  a  pyxis.     (After 
Watson.) 


WEEDS    OF    THE    PLANTAIN   FAMILY. 


187 


"healing  blade,"  and  it  was  probably  the  first  "shin-plaster" 
used  by  man.  This  property  was  known  to  Shakespeare,  as  in 
Romeo  and  Juliet,  Aet  I,  se.  2,  we  find: 

"Ram. — Your  plantain   leaf   is   excellent   for   thai. 
Bcn.—Vur  what,  I  pray  thee? 
Rout. — For  your  broken   shin." 

On  account  of  its  so  persistently  haunting  the  pathways  of  man 
the  Germans  have  a  story  that  the  plantain  was  formerly  a  maiden 
who  watched  so  patiently  by  the  roadside  for  her  absent  lover  that 
the  fairies  took  pity  on  her  and  changed  her  into  this  wayside 
plant. 

Mingled  with  the  common  plantain  in  dooryards,  especially  in 
northern  Indiana,  is  the  pale  plantain  (P.  ruydii  Dec.)  distin- 
guished by  its  brighter  green  and  thinner  leaves,  less  dense  and 
more  pointed  spikes  and  the  separation  of  the  lid  of  the  capsule 
much  below  the  middle.  The  seeds  are  also  much  larger  and  fewer, 
there  being  only  4-9  in  each  pod. 

102.     FLANTAGO   LANCKOLATA   L.     Buckhoru.     Narrow   Plantain.     Ribwort. 

Rib-grass.     English  Plantain.      (P.  or  B.  T.  1.) 

Rootstock  short,  erect,  the  leaves  with  tufts  of  brown  hairs  at  their 
bases;  leaves  oblong-lanceolate,  erect  or  spreading,  pointed,  narrowed  at 
base,  3-5  ribbed,  2-12  inches  long.  Flower-stalks  several,  slender,  grooved, 
sometimes  2  feet  or  more  tall ;  spikes  very  dense,  cylindric,  blunt,  1-4 
inches  long.  Capsule  oblong,  blunt,  2-seeded.  the  top  separating  at  about 
the  middle.  Seeds  oval,  deeply  grooved  lengthwise  or  boat-shaped  on  the 
inner  side,  chesnut  brown,  1/10  inch  long,  smooth  and  shining.  (Fig.  00.) 

Very  common  along  railways,  in 
waste  places  and  especially  in  mead- 
ows. April-Oct.  lii  the  last  five 
years  this  rib-grass  or  buckhorn,  as 
it  is  commonly  called,  has  come  to  be 
one  of  the  worst  pests  known  in  the 
clover  and  timothy  fields  of  the 
State,  especially  those  with  light 
sandy  or  gravelly  soil,  or  on  clayey 
uplands.  Its  seeds  are  widely  dis- 
tributed with  those  of  clover,  alfalfa 
and  other  hays  and  in  manure,  and 
its  thick  rootstocks  give  it  an  ad- 
vantage over  many  weeds.  It  is  es- 
pecially annoying  to  dealers  in  clover- 


Fig.  99.    (After  Clark.) 


seed  as  it  is  very  difficult  to  thoroughly  separate  its  seed.   Remedies  : 


138 


THE    TXDTAXA    WEED    BOOK. 


sowing  clean  seed;  plowing  under  badly  infested  fields  and  culti- 
vating in  some  other  crop  until  every  plantain  top  has  been  de- 
stroyed ;  where  but  a  few  plants  are  present,  deep  cutting  with  hoe 
cr  spud ;  increased  fertilization  and  crowding  out  with  heavy  crops 
of  clover;  in  lawns  and  pastures,  digging  and  reseeding,  or  per- 
sistent mowing.  In  those  favored  localities  where  it  is  not  yet 
known  farmers  should  be  on  the  especial  lookout  for  it  and  quickly 
destroy  every  plant  which  comes  to  their  notice. 

In  England,  where  it  is  very  common,  this  plantain  has  a  score 
or  more  of  common  names  among  which  are  ripple-grass  and  kemp- 
seed.  The  name  ''"kemps"  comes  from  the  old  Danish  kcempe,  a 
warrior,  and  is  applied  to  the  heads  of  the  plantain  by  children 
who  play  with  the  flower-stalks  and  try  to  knock  off  the  heads  of 
each  other's  mimic  weapons.  The  heads  when  they  appear  hi 
spring  are  blackish  and  the  children,  when  they  first  see  them,  re- 
peat the  following  rhyme : 

"Chimney  sweeper  all  in  black, 
Go   to   the    brook   and   wash    your   back, 
Wash  it  clean  or  wash  it  none ; 
Chimney  sweeper,  have  you  clone?'' 

103.     PLANTAGO  ARISTATA  Michx.     Bracted  Plantain.     (A.  N.  2.) 

Leaves  linear,  erect,  pointed,  dark 
green,  3-ribbed,  narrowed  at  base. 
Flower-stalks  erect,  longer  than  the 
leaves,  G-1S  inches  tall ;  spikes  very 
dense,  hairy,  cylindric,  1-G  inches  long, 
the  flowering  bracts  3-10  times  the 
length  of  calyx.  Capsule  2-seeded.  Seeds 
dark  brown,  1/10  inch  long,  one  side 
rounded  and  with  a  distinct  groove 
across  its  middle,  the  other  side  flat 
and  lengthwise  grooved.  (Fig.  100.) 

A  western  plant  introduced  in 
baled  hay  and  seeds  and  becoming 
common  along  roadsides,  railways 
and  in  meadows.  May— Oct.  First 
noted  by  the  writer  in  Yigo  County 
in  June,  1888.  It  is  most  commonly 
a  winter  annual  and  is  becoming 
more  abundant  in  meadows  each 
vear.  Bv  farmers  it  is  often  called 

Fig.  100.    a,  mature  plant  with  grass-like  leaves     "   •,  .... 

and  bracted  spikes;  b,  top  of  fruit  with  corolla  at-  briSUV  buckliom  to  distinguish 
tached,  the  2  seeds  hanging  in  it;  d,  seed.  (After 

it  from   the  more  common  species. 


WEEDS    OF    THE    TEASEL    FAMILY.  13!) 

Its  seeds  are  readily  told  by  the  cross-groove  on  the  rounded  side. 
Remedies:  hand  digging  in  late  fall  or  early  spring;  cutting  before 
the  seeds  ripen ;  thorough  cultivation. 

The  dwjii't'  white  plantain  (/'.  virfjrnic.a  L.),  leaves  ovate  or 
spoon-shaped,  white  hairy,  stamens  4,  corolla  lobes  erect  and  closed 
over  the  tops  of  the  capsules,  occurs  frequently  in  dry  or  sandy 
soil,  but  does  not  promise  to  spread  enough  to  do  much  harm. 

THE  TEASEL  FAMILY.— DI  PSAOACE/E. 

Herbs  with  opposite  leaves,  mostly  prickly  stems,  and  perfect 
flowers  in  dense  oblong  heads  surrounded  by  an  involucre.  Calyx 
cup-shaped,  the  tube  attached  to  the  ovary ;  corolla  oblique  or  2- 
lipped,  4-lobed;  stamens  4,  inserted  on  the  tube  of  the  corolla  and 
alternate  with  its  lobes;  ovary  1-celled.  Fruit  an  achene,  its  tip 
crowned  with  the  persistent  calyx- lobes. 

In  the  Old  World  this  family  is  represented  by  140  species,  four 
of  which  have  been  introduced  and  now  grow  wild  in  the  eastern 
United  States.  Of  these  only  one  occurs  in  Indiana.  The  sweet 
scabious  is  a  cultivated  member. 

101.     DIPSACVS  SYLVESTRIS  Huds.    Wild  or  Common  Teasel.    English  Thistle. 
(B.  I.  2.) 

Stem  stout,  ?>-6  feet  high,  with  numerous  short  prickles  on  the 
branches,  midribs  of  the  leaves  and  involucre ;  leaves  sessile,  lanceolate  or 
oblong,  the  upper  pointed,  entire,  often  united  at  base,  the  lower  blunt- 
toothed  or  somewhat  divided,  often  1  foot  long.  Flowers  purplish,  $  inch 
long,  in  dense  cylindric  heads  3-4  inches  long,  each  flower  with  a  bract 
or  scale  beneath  it  which  ends  in  an  awl-shaped  barbed  awn  longer  than 
the  flower  itself;  leaves  of  the  involucre  linear,  curved  upward,  as  long 
as  the  head.  (Fig.  101.) 

Common  in  dry  soil  in  southern 
Indiana  along  roadsides,  waste  places 
and  barren  slopes  of  old  abandoned 
fields.  July-Sept,  The  flowers  be- 
gin to  blossom  in  a  ring  about  the 
middle  of  the  head  and  gradually 
open  towards  both  base  and  apex. 
The  large  heads,  spiny  involucre  and 
prickly  leaves  make  the  teasel  a  strik- 
ing and  rather  handsome  roadside 
plant  when  in  blossom  but  an  un- 
sightly weed  when  dead.  Remedies: 
FiK.  101.  (After  Miiispaugh.)  mowing  as  often  as  the  heads  are 


140  THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 

formed;  deep  cutting  in  early  summer;  in  old  fields,  increased  fer- 
tilization and  cultivation. 

The  fuller's  teasel  (D.  fullonum  L.)  is  generally  regarded  as  a 
cultivated  form  of  the  wild  plant.  It  has  the  points  of  the  chaffy 
bracts  hooked  at  the  tip  and  the  heads  were  formerly  used  by  cloth 
manufacturers  as  a  kind  of  card  to  raise  the  nap  on  woolen  cloth. 

In  Europe  it  is  used  to  foretell  the  weather,  it  being  said  that 
"tezils,  or  fuller's  thistle  being  gathered  and  hanged  up  in  the 
house,  where  the  air  may  come  freely  to  it,  upon  the  alteration  of 
cold  and  windy  weather  will  grow  smoother,  and  against  rain  will 
close  up  its  prickles." 

THE  BELL-FLOWER  FAMCLY.— CAMPANULACE^E. 

Herbs  with  alternate  leaves,  acrid  and  usually  milky  juice  and 
perfect  scattered  flowers.  Calyx  5-lobed  or  parted,  its  tube  at- 
tached to  the  ovary;  corolla  5-lobed  or  more  or  less  2-lipped,  the 
petals  rarely  wholly  separate;  stamens  5,  free  from  the  corolla, 
alternate  with  its  lobes;  ovary  2-5  celled.  Fruit  a  capsule  with 
very  small  and  numerous  seeds. 

By  recent  botanists  the  bell-flowers  and  lobelias  have  been  com- 
bined into  one  family  of  1,500  or  more  species  of  wide  geographic 
distribution.  It  is  represented  in  Indiana  by  6  bell-flowers  and  7 
lobelias,  3  of  which  are  common  enough  to  be  termed  weeds,  though 
none  of  them  are  very  aggressive.  To  the  family  belong  some  of 
our  most  handsome  wild  flowers.  The  tall  bell-flower,  with  its  blue 
bell-like  blossoms  in  a  long  loose  terminal  spike,  is  frequent  along 
the  borders  of  moist  woods  and  thickets  throughout  the  State,  while 
the  little  harebell  and  the  marsh  bell-flowers  occur  only  in  the 
northern  counties.  One  of  the  lobelias  is 

"The   cardinal-flower   whose    heart-red    bloom 
Glows  like  a  living  coal  upon  the  green 
Of  the  midsummer  meadows." 

It  waves  its  red  pennons  above  the  sedges  of  many  a  swamp  and 
among  all  our  wild  plants  which  bloom  from  August  to  October  it 
is  without  a  peer  for  brilliancy  of  color  and  gracefulness  of  form. 
The  flowers  of  the  lobelias  resemble  those  of  the  mints  and  figworts, 
but  the  stamens  or  anthers  are  always  more  or  less  united  and  the 
corolla  is  split  to  the  base  on  one  side. 

K)5.     LEGOUZIA    PERFOLTATA    L.      Venus'    Looking    Glass.      Clasping    Bell- 
flower.     (A.  N.  3.) 

Stem  very  leafy,  half  erect  or  prostrate,  often  branched  near  the 
base,  G-2-l  inches  long;  leaves  shell-shaped,  scalloped,  rounded  or  broadly 


WEEDS   OF   THE   BRLI, -FLOWER   FAMILY. 


141 


ovate,  clasping  the  stem.     Flowers  solitary  or  2-3  together  in  the  axils  of 
the   upper  leaves ;   corolla   wheel-shaped,   blue  or  violet,   \   inch   or  more 


broad;    stamens    o,    separate, 
middle.     (Fig.  102.) 


Fig.  102.    Showing  2  forms  of  flowers  and  sin- 
gle fruit.     (After  Britton'and  Brown.) 


Capsule    oblong,    opening    .just    below    the 

Common  in  dry  or  sandy  rather 
poor  soil  in  southern  Indiana;  infre- 
qnont  northward.  May-Sept,  It  oc- 
curs mostly  in  grain  fields,  thinly 
seeded  meadows  and  waste  places,  the 
flowers  closing  by  noon  or  mid- 
afternoon.  Those  on  the  lower  part 
of  the  stern  are  usually  rudimentary, 
without  corolla.  The  name  was  first 
given  to  a  European  species  because 
of  some  fancied  resemblance  to  an  old- 
fashioned  round  mirror.  Remedies: 
increased  fertilization;  pulling  or 
cutting  before  the  seeds  ripen. 


10(5.     LOBKLIA  SYPIIITJTICA  L.     Great  Lobelia.      (P.  N.  :>.) 

Erect,  simple,  rather  stout,  somewhat  hairy,  1-3  feet  high ;  leaves 
thin,  numerous,  oblong  or  oval,  pointed,  2-f>  inches  long.  Flowers  in  a 
dense,  leafy  bracted,  loose  spike,  showy,  bright  blue,  rarely  white,  1  inch 
long;  corolla  2-lipped,  split  to  the  base  on  one  side,  the  upper  lip  with  2 
erect  lobes,  the  lower  spreading  and  3-cleft ;  anthers  united  into  a  tube  or 
ring.  Capsule  2-valved,  opening  at  the  top. 

Common  in  low  moist  grounds  along  ditches  and  borders  of 
marshes,  streams  and  thickets.  July-Sept.  Except  in  color  its 
flowers  are  similar  to  but  stouter  than  those  of  the  cardinal-flower. 
A  striking  and  handsome  member  of  our  late  summer  flora,  and 
occupying  for  the  most  part  only  wa.ste  ground,  it  is  doubtful  if  it 
should  be  classed  as  a  weed.  Tt  spreads  both  by  seeds  and  offshoots 
from  the  base  of  the  stem  and  may  be  controlled  by  mowing  several 
times  for  one  season  or  by  grubbing. 

107.     LOBELIA  IN  FT  ATA  L.    Indian  Tobacco.    Asthma  Weed.     (A.  N.  3.) 

Stem  erect,  leafy,  usually  much  branched,  1-2  feet  high ;  leaves  thin, 
ovate  or  oblong,  blunt-toothed,  short-stalked  or  sessile.  Flowers  small, 
pale  blue,  \  inch  long,  in  loose,  bracted,  spike-like  racemes.  Capsule  in- 
Hated,  \  inch  long,  many  seeded,  cross-veined  between  the  ribs.  (Fig.  103.) 

Common  in  dry  open  woods,  meadows,  ^pastures  and  borders  of 
fields.  July-Oct.  It  contains  an  acrid  milky  juice,  and  the  whole 
plant  is  poisonous  when  eaten,  but  its  leaves,  flowering  tops  and 
seeds  are  much  used  in  medicine  as  an  expectorant,  sedative  and 


142 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


emetic.  Horses  and  cattle  seem  to  know  of  its  acrid  qualities,  care- 
fully browsing  the  palatable  herbage  all  about  it,  yet  leaving  its 

stalk  untouched.  Remedies:  hand 
pulling  or  mowing  before  the  seeds 
ripen ;  increased  fertilization  in  old 
fields. 

In  gathering  Indian  tobacco  for 
sale  the  leaves  and  tops  should  be  col- 
lected in  late  summer,  dried  in  the 
shade  and  then  kept  in  covered  ves- 
sels. The  seeds  are  very  small,  400 
to  500  in  each  capsule.  The  dried 
leaves  and  tops  bring  from  3  to  8 
cents  and  the  seeds  15  to  20  cents  per 
pound.  They  are  sold  under  the  name 
of  lobelia. 

THE  CHICORY  FAMILY.— 
CICHORIACE.E. 

Herbs  usually  with  acrid  or  bitter 
Fig.  IDS.   (After  Vasey.)  milky  juice,  alternate  or  basal  leaves, 

and  yellow,  rarely  pink  or  blue  flowers  in  dense  compound  heads  on 
a  common  receptacle  and  surrounded  at  base  with  one  or  more 
rows  of  scale-like  bracts  called  the  involucre.  Flowers  all  alike, 
perfect;  calyx  tube  surrounding  and  firmly  joined  to  the  ovary 
and  usually  having  on  its  top  a  pappus  of  scales  or  bristles  to  aid 
in  the  distribution  of  the  seed ;  corolla  with  its  petals  united  into 
a  long  or  short  tube  and  a  strap-shaped,  usually  5-toothed,  upper 
portion  called  a  ray;  anthers  united  into  a  tube;  ovary  1-celled, 
1-seeded.  Fruit  an  achene.  (Figs.  1,  a;  10,  g.) 

Until  recently  this  family  and  the  next  were  united  with  the 
great  family  of  Composite,  comprising  over  11,000  species  of  known 
plants.  By  modern  botanists  the  Composite  family  has  been  split 
up  into  three,  of  which  the  dandelions,  ragweeds  and  sunflowers 
are  respectively  among  the  best  known  and  typical  members  of 
each.  The  group,  with  all  the  flowers  of  the  head  rayed  or  ligu- 
late  and  the  juice  of  stem  and  leaves  milky,  is  separated  from  other 
Composite,  having  all  the  central  flowers  of  the  head  tubular  and 
the  juice  very  rarely  millsy,  under  the  name  of  the  Chicory  family. 
This  separation  is  more  for  convenience  in  classification  than  for 
natural  reasons  The  strap-shaped  corolla  (Fig.  10,  g)  may  be 
supposed  to  be  formed  by  splitting  a  tubular  one  down  one  side 


WEEDS    OF   TMK    CHICORY   FAMILY. 


143 


nearly  to  the  ovary,  the  five  teeth  at  the  end  of  the  ray  in  the 
dandelion  flower  representing  the  five  united  petals  of  the  original 
1  ube.  Similar  but  usually  much  broader  ray-flowers  are  found  in  a 
circle  around  the  head  of  tubular  ones  in  many  of  the  true  Com- 
posite. To  the  Chicory  family  belong  about  30  species  growing 
wild  in  Indiana,  among  them  being  the  dandelions,  sow-thistles, 
wild  lettuce  and  hawkweeds. 

108.     CICHORIUM  INTYBUS  I>.     Chicory.     Wild  Succory-     (P.  I.  2.) 

Stein  stiff,  much  branched,  1-5  feet  high,  from  a  long  deep  tup-root; 

basal  leaves  spreading,  spoon-shaped  in  outline,  3-6  inches  long,  narrowed 

at  base,  sharply  cut-lobed,  the  segments 
turned  backwards ;  upper  ones  much  smaller, 
oblong  or  lanceolate,  partly  clasping.  Flow- 
ering heads  numerous,  1  inch  or  more  broad, 
1-4  together  in  sessile  axillary  and  terminal 
clusters ;  flowers  several,  bright  blue,  rarely 
white:  pappus  composed  of  2  or  3  rows  of 
short  blunt  scales  at  the  top  of  the  black, 
4-sided  achenes.  (Fig.  104.) 


Frequent  along  roadsides  and  in  pas- 
tures, waste  places  and  gardens  in  north- 
ern Indiana ;  scarce  in  the  southern  por- 
tion. July-Sept.  Occurs  usually  in 
patches  in  dry  soil,  its  blue  flowers  add- 
ing a  tinge  of  brilliant  color  along  the 
,  roadways,  though  usually  closing  by 

l<ig.  104.     Spray  of  flowers,  lower  leaf  and 

root.   (After  Clark.)  noon.     The  endive  or  garden  succory,  a 

closely  related  species,  is  in  England  said  to  open  its  petals  at  8 
o'clock  in  the  morning  and  close  them  at  4  in  the  afternoon,  whence 
the  lines: 

"On   upward   slopes   the   shepherds   mark 

The  hour  when,  to  the  dial  true, 
Cichorium  to  the  towering  lark, 
Lifts  her  soft  eye,  serenely  blue." 

Although  a  vile  weed  where  growing  wild,  chicory  under  culti- 
vation is  a  plant  of  many  uses.  The  Romans  used  it  as  a  salad  and 
pot-herb  and  it  is  related  that  "the  leaves  of  chicory  are  boiled  in 
potage  or  broths  for  sicke  and  feeble  persons  that  have  hot,  weak 
and  feeble  stomachs,  to  strengthen  the  same."  In  Europe  at  the 
present  time  its  young  leaves  when  well  blanched  are  much  used 
for  salad ;  the  tender  roots  when  boiled  and  served  with  butter  and 
pepper  are  considered  quite  a  delicacy,  while  the  young  leaves 
when  boiled  as  spinach,  using  two  waters,  rival  those  of  spinach 


141 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BCOK. 


or  dandelion  for  greens.  The  tops  and  roots  are  grown  there  ex- 
tensively for  stock-food. 

The  principal  use  of  the  root,  however,  is  as  a  substitute  for  or 
an  adulterant  of  coffee  and  persons  accustomed  to  its  use  main- 
tain that  a  mixture  of  2  or  3  parts  of  good  coffee  to  one  of  ground 
roasted  chicory  is  superior  to  and  more  economical  than  coffee 
alone.  More  than  15  million  pounds  of  chicory  root  are  annually 
imported  into  the  United  States  from  Belgium  and  other  European 
countries  for  the  sole  purpose  of  adulterating  ground  coffees. 
Where  escaped  as  a  weed  the  chicory  can  be  controlled  by  deep 
cutting  or  grubbing  with  hoe  or  spud  and  prevention  of  seeding  in 
gardens. 

109.     TARAXACUM  TARAXACUM  L.     Dandelion.     Blowball.      (P.  I.   1.) 

A  sternless  herb  producing  a  cluster  or  rosette  of  spreading  basal 
leaves  from  the  midst  of  which  the  leafless  flower-stalk  springs;  leaves 
oblong  or  spoon-shaped  in  outline,  deeply  and  irregularly  lobed  or  cut- 
toothed,  hairy  when  young,  3-10  inches  long.  Heads  golden  yellow.  1-2 
inches  broad,  containing  150-200  flowers.  Achenes  or  seeds  greenish- 
brown,  spindle-shaped,  narrowed  above  into  a  slender  beak  which  in  age 
supports  a  globular  mass  of  white  hair-like  pappus.  (Figs.  1,  a  ;  6,  h;  105.) 

Very  abundant  everywhere  in 
grass-lands,  as  lawns,  pastures, 
meadows  and  along  roadsides.  In 
flower  practically  every  day  in  the 
year  that  the  weather  is  above  the 
freezing  point,  and  when  not  in 
flower  getting  ready  to  blossom.  In 
cities  it  is  by  far  the  worst  weed 
which  persons  desiring  neat  lawns 
have  to  contend  with.  True,  the 
star-like  golden  flowers  at  times 
shine  forth  from  the  green  of  blue- 
grass  lawn  with  beautiful  effect, 
but  the  aftermath  in  the  shape  of 
unsightly  flower  stalks  is  not  so 

Fig.  105.     1,  two  flower  stalks,  one  showing  the        , 

head  closed,  with  double  involucre,  the  inner  erect,  pleasing.  The  time  from  flowering 
the  outer  deflexed,  the  other  the  head  open;  2,  sin-  .,  ,.  „  -. 

gle  flower,  showing  reed,  pappus,  strap-shaped  co-  Until  the  dispersal  01  the  SCeClS  IS 
rolla,  and  stamens  united  around  the  2-parted  style;  ...  . 

J,  achene;  4,  pitted  receptacle  with  single  fruit.  8  to  10  days.  As  the  myriad  Seeds 
(After  Strasburger.) 

are  watted  everywhere   by  means 

of  the  pappus  it  is  almost  a  hopeless  task  to  keep  the  weed  in  sub- 
jection. Remedies:  reseeding'  or  resodding;  digging  witli  spud  or 
an  especial  tool  made  for  the  purpose ;  in  fields  and  gardens,  thor- 
ough cultivation. 


WEEDS   OF   THE    C1JICOKY    FAMILY.  14") 

Aside  from  its  l)eing  a  nuisance  in  lawns,  the  dandelion  is  not 
a  had  weed,  as  its  leaves  are  eaten  by  most  stock  and  form  the 
basis  of  many  a  mess  of  greens  for  the  dinner  of  the  human.  In 
Europe  the  young  leaves  are  often  eaten  in  early  spring  as  a  salad 
and  near  the  larger  cities  of  the  Eastern  States  the  plant  is  at 
present  extensively  cultivated  for  greens.  One  of  the  best  known 
of  the  social  weeds,  it  has  followed  man  the  world  over,  its  short 
underground  stem  and  leaves  being  able-  to  withstand  his  constant 
tread.  Ever  a  favorite  of  children,  it  is  the 

"Dear  common  flower  that  blooms  beside  the  way, 
Fringing  the  dusty  road  with  harmless  gold." 

Many  an  hour  of  childhood  has  been  happily  spent  in  making 
curls  and  necklaces  from  its  hollow  stems.  The  common  name  is 
from  the  French  dent -de-lion,  meaning  ''lion's  tooth"  and  is  said 
to  have  been  given  it  because  the  edge  of  the  leaf  looks  like  a  row 
of  teeth  on  the  jaw  of  a  lion.  In  England  it  is  often  called  the 
"peasant's  clock"  because  its  flower  opens  very  early  in  the  morn- 
ing and  only  in  fair  weather,  while  to  dream  of  it  is  deemed  a  mis- 
fortune as  it  is  said  to  bring  bad  luck. 

The  root  of  the  dandelion  is  thick,  tapering,  bitter,  sometimes 
20  inches  long.  It  is  used  in  medicine  under  the  name  taraxacum 
as  a  tonic  in  diseases  of  the  liver  and  in  dyspepsia,  For  sale  it 
should  be  dug  from  July  to  September  at  which  time  the  milky 
juice  is  thicker  and  the  root  more  bitter.  After  careful  washing 
and  thorough  drying  it  should  be  sold  as  soon  as  possible,  as  its 
medicinal  virtues  decrease  with  age.  More  than  100,000  pounds 
are  imported  each  year,  the  price  ranging  from  4  to  6  cents  per 
pound.  As  common  as  the  plant  is  in  this  country  many  a  boy  or 
girl  ought  to  make  good  wrages  by  collecting  it  for  sale. 

110.     SONCHTS  ASPER  L.     Spiny  Sow-Thistle.     (A.  T.  2.) 

Stem  leafy,  succulent,  seldom  branched,  1-7  feet  high ;  leaves  alter- 
nate, spiny-edged,  sometimes  lobed  or  divided  ;  lower  and  basal  ones  spoon- 
shaped,  upper  oblong  or  lanceolate,  clasping  by  a  rounded  base.  Heads 
numerous,  many-liowered,  1  inch  broad  or  less ;  bracts  in  several  over- 
lapping rows,  glabrous;  receptacle  Hat.  naked;  flowers  pale  yellow. 
Achenes  flat,  truncate  above,  ribbed  lengthwise,  topped  with  a  copius 
pappus  of  soft  fine  white  bristles.  (Fig.  100.) 

Common  in  waste  places  about  cities  and  towns,  along  roadsides, 
railways  and  the  borders  of  old  fields.  May— Nov.  The  leaves  are 
very  prickly  along  the  margins,  the  cars  at  the  base  ol:  the  upper 
ones  being  rounded  and  the  seeds  or  achenes  not  ribbed  crosswise. 
In  these  respects  it  differs  from  another  animal  species,  the  corn- 

[10] 


146 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


mon  sow-thistle   (S.  oleraceus  L.),  in  which  the  lower  leaves  arc 
often  divided,  the  margins  toothed  but  not  prickly,  the  ears  at  base 

pointed  and  the  seeds  with  both  cross  and 
lengthwise  ribs.  Both  species  are  eaten 
by  sheep  and  infested  pastures  can  be 
cleared  of  them  in  that  way.  The  young 
leaves  of  the  unprickly  one  are  often  used 
as  greens  or  eaten  as  salad.  In  corn-fields 
which  lie  fallow  for  a  year  and  in  the  un- 
seeded shock  rows  of  corn  stubble  wheat- 
fields  they  are  often  abundant.  Remedies : 
cutting  or  pulling  before  the  seeds  ripen ; 
burning  mature  plants. 

In  England  the  common  sow-thistle  is 
Fig. ice.  (After Miiispaugh.)  known  as  "hare's  lettuce"  or  "hare's 
palace"  from  the  shelter  it  is  supposed  to  afford  that  animal  as, 
"if  the  hare  come  under  it  he  is  sure  that  no  beast  can  touch  hym." 
Another  superstitution  is:  "When  hares  are  overcome  with  heat 
they  eat  of  an  herb  called  hare's  lettuce,  and  there  is  no  disease  in 
this  beast  the  cure  whereof  she  does  not  seek  for  in  this  herb." 

The  perennial  sow-thistle  (*Sf.  arvensis  L.)  has  not  yet  been  re- 
corded from  Indiana,  but  is  one  of  the  worst  weeds  of  Ontario  and 
some  of  the  eastern  States,  and  occurs  in  northern  Ohio.  It  lias  the 
bracts  of  the  involucre  glandular-hairy,  the  heads  of  flowers  larger 
and  brighter  yellow  and  spreads  by  deep  running  rootstocks  as 
well  as  by  seeds.  Remedies:  deep  cutting  or  digging;  crowding 
out  with  clover;  sheep-grazing. 

111.     LACTUCA  SCARIOTA  L.    Prickly  Lettuce.     Milk  Thistle.     (A.  I.  1.) 

Stem  stiff,  leafy,  glabrous,  usually  much  branched.  2-6  feet  high ; 
leaves  oblong  or  lanceolate,  toothed  or  deeply  cut-lobed,  sessile  or  clasp- 
ing, their  margins  and  midribs  strongly  prickly,  the  lowest  sometimes  10 
inches  long  and  3  inches  wide,  upper  much  smaller.  Heads  £  inch  broad, 
very  numerous  in  a  broad  open  panicle;  flowers  6-12,  yellow;  involucre 
cylindric.  its  outer  bracts  J  the  length  of  inner.  Achenes  flattened,  brown, 
oblong,  widening  upward  then  suddenly  contracting  into  a  narrow  neck, 
ribbed  lengthwise,  -J  inch  long;  pappus  of  fine  soft  white  hairs. 

Abundant  in  waste  places  along  railways,  streets,  alleys  and 
roadsides;  also  in  old  fields  and  gardens.  June-Sept.  From  the 
sow-thistles  this  and  other  forms  of  wild  lettuce  are  separated 
by  having  the  upper  end  of  the  achenes  or  seeds  tapering  or  beaked, 
whereas  in  the  sow-thistles  they  are  truncate  or  squared  off.  The 
prickly  lettuce,  like  the  majority  of  our  vile  weeds,  came  to  us 


WEEDS   OF    THE    CHICORY    FAMILY. 


1.4.7 


from  Europe,  reaching  Massachusetts  about  1863  and  Indiana  in 
1884,  since  which  time  it  has  spread  over  the  entire  State.  Each 
plant  produces  from  8,000  to  10,000  seeds,  which  by  aid  of  the 
abundant  pappus  arc  wafted  far  and  wide  by  every  passing  breeze, 
and  are  ready  to  sprout  and  grow  wherever  and  whenever  the 
proper  conditions  of  soil,  moisture  and  temperature  are  present. 
The  numerous  prickles  and  bitter  milky  juice  prevent  all  animals 
but  sheep  from  feeding  upon  it.  They  eat  it,  especially  the  young 
leaves,  greedily  and  in  pastures  it  can  be  kept  down  by  them  alone. 
Its  most  aggressive  character  is  its  ability  to  growr  anywhere  and 
everywhere  that  its  seed  can  secure  a  covering  of  earth  and  so 
from  crevices  in  gutters  into  which  a  little  soil  has  drifted,  "from 
stone  heaps,  weed-choked  corners  of  fences  and  yards,  roadways 
and  beaten  paths  it  flourishes.  But  such  poverty  and  ill  usage  are 
by  no  means  essential  factors  to  its  success,  for  it  also  springs  up 
in  gardens,  meadows  and  cultivated  fields.  Still  the  power  to  ex- 
tract sufficient  moisture  and  food  from  compacted  and  sunbeaten 
earth,  and  thus  to  overtop  competitors,  and  in  the  less  favorable 

spots  to  grow  where  few  plants  could  live, 
place  it  in  the  front  rank  of  noxious  an- 
nual weeds. ":  Remedies:  repeated  mow- 
ing before  the  seeds  ripen;  burning  ma- 
ture plants;  thorough  cultivation. 

A  closely  allied  species,  the  "strong 
scented  lettuce"  (L.  virosa  L.,  Fig.  107), 
is  very  common  in  clover  fields.  It  dif- 
fers in  having  the  leaves  all  entire  and 
lanceolate,  the  prickles  on  midribs  and 
edges  shorter,  and  also  in  being  a  winter 
annual,  springing  from  the  seed  in  au- 
tumn and  reaching  maturity  in  May  or 
June  of  the  next  season.  Both  plants 
when  cut  or  broken  stool  freely,  sending 
up  numerous  spreading  branches  from 
the  lower  part,  so  that  they  must  be  cut 
with  a  hoe  or  pulled  to  prevent  the  ripen- 
ing of  the  seeds.  Both  are  "compass 
plants,"  having  the  leaves  twisted  on  the 
stem  so  that  their  edges  point  up  and  down  or  vertical  instead  of 
horizontal,  and  the  ends  for  the  most  part  point  north  and  south. 
The  larger  area  of  the  leaves  is  therefore  toward  the  east  and  west, 

*J.  C.  Arthur,  Bull.  52,  Purd.  Univ.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  103. 


vrfi 

Fig.   107.     Showin 


the    fruit    with 


bristly  parachute-like  pappus  at  end  of  a 
long  beak;  a  head  of  ripe  fruits  and  a 
head  of  flowers.  (After  Atkinson.) 


148 


THE   INDIANA    WEED   BOOK. 


and  they  are  protected  from  the  fierce  rays  of  the  sun  which  can- 
not beat  directly  down  upon  them. 

112.  LACTUCA  CANADENSIS   L.     Wild  Lettuce.     Tall   Lettuce.      (A.   or  B. 

N.  3.) 

Stem  very  leafy  up  to  the  flowers,  branching  above,  glabrous,  3-12 
feet  high;  leaves  without  prickles,  the  lower  6-12  inches  long,  sinuate 
toothed  or  lobed,  pale  beneath ;  upper  lanceolate,  entire,  sometimes  clasp- 
ing. Heads  numerous,  J  inch  broad,  flowers  about  20,  pale  yellow.  Achene 
oval,  very  flat,  about  as  long  as  the  hair-like  beak;  pappus  white.  (Fig. 
308.) 

Common,  especially  in  moist  soil,  along  borders  of  woods, 
thickets,  fence-rows,  roadsides  and  cultivated  fields.  July-Oct. 

While  not  an  aggressive  weed  it  is  an 
unsightly  one  and  should  be  cleaned  out 
of  fence-rows  and  roadsides.  Associated 
with  it  are  several  other  species  of  wild 
lettuce,  most  common  of  which  are  the 
arrow-leaved  lettuce  (L.  sagittifdlia 
Ell.)  having  the  leaves  all  entire,  the 
flowers  purplish-yellow,  and  the  achene 
longer  than  its  beak;  and  the  tall  blue 
lettuce  (L.  spicata  Lam.)  with  deeply 
lobed  leaves,  blue  flowers  and  brown 
pappus.  The  latter  occurs  frequently 
in  moist  soil  along  the  borders  of  up- 
land thickets  and  fence-rows  and  is 
among  the  tallest  of  our  annual  herbs,  one  specimen  taken  in  Vigo 
County  measuring  14  feet,  4  inches  in  height.  Remedies:  mowing 
before  the  seeds  ripen ;  abandoning  fences  and  cultivating  the  land 
thus  redeemed. 

113.  HiERAciUM  SCABRUM  Michx.     Rough  Hawkweed.     (P.  N.  3.) 

Stem  stout,  leafy,  densely  rough-hairy  below  and  glandular-hairy 
above,  1-4  feet  high ;  leaves  oval  or  spoon-shaped,  2-4  inches  long,  sessile 
or  the  lower  short-stalked,  finely  toothed.  Heads  2/3  inch  broad,  30-50- 
flowered,  numerous  in  a  rather  broad  panicle ;  bracts  of  involucre  in  one 
row,  linear,  glandular.  Achenes  blackish,  cylindrical,  truncate;  pappus  a 
single  row  of  rather  stiff  brown  bristles. 

Common  in  dry  soil  in  open  woods,  thickets  and  recent  clearings. 
July-Sept.  This  and  a  half  dozen  other  hawkweeds  are  found  in 
the  State,  occ,urring  for  the  most  part  on  the  slopes  and  ridges  of 
high  dry  woodland  pastures  where  the  grass  is  thin.  There  in  late 
summer  their  ray  flowers  strive  to  outdazzle  the  sunlight  with  their 
limpid  yellow.  Seldom  noted  except  by  the  botanist  they  add  their 


.  108.     (After  Millspaugh.) 


WEEDS    OF    THE    CHICORY    FAMILY. 


14!) 


mite  of  beauty  to  the  woodland  at  a  time  when  other  flowers  are 

scarce.  In  no  place  are  they  numerous 
enough  to  be  very  troublesome  and  in 
general  they  can  be  kept  down  by  close 
grazing  with  sheep,  or  by  mowing  and 
salting. 

Full    HOO    species    of    those    hawk- 
weeds  are  known   in  various  parts  of 


the  world.  15  of  which  occur  in  the 
eastern  United  States.  Of  those  but 
one.,  a  European  species,  the  golden 
hawkweed  or  devil's  paint  brush  (II. 
aurautiacum  L.,  Fig.  109),  is  an  ag- 
gressive form  but  it  has  not  been  re- 
corded from  the  State.  In  New  Eng- 

Fig.109.    Golden  hawkweed.    (After  Clark.)      jand  ^  ig  R  serious  pest  in  pastures  am] 

meadows  and  is  spreading  westward,  having  reached  northeastern 
Ohio  some  years  ago.  From  the  rough  hawkweed  it  may  be  known 
by  having  the  leaves  all  basal  and  the  heads  nearly  1  inch  broad, 
with  the  flowers  reddish-orange  in  hue.  It  spreads  by  runners  as 
well  as  by  seeds  and  should  be  exterminated  wherever  a  single 
stalk  appears.  This  can  be  done  by  grubbing  or  heavy  salting. 

THE  RAGWEED  FAMILY.— AMBROSIACE/E. 

Annual  or  perennial  herbs  with  alternate,  rarely  opposite, 
leaves  and  small  heads  of  greenish  or  white  flowers  surrounded  at 
base  by  an  involucre  of  few  bracts.  In  our  weeds  the  male  and 
female  flowers  are  in  separate  heads,  the  staminate  (male)  ones 
above.  Female  or  pistillate  flowers  without  corolla,  or  this  re- 
duced to  a  short  tube  or  ring;  calyx  attached  to  the  1-celled  ovary; 
pappus  none;  involucre  of  the  heads  bur-like  or  nut-like.  Sterile 
or  male  flowers  usually  with  an  inconspicuous  funnel- form  or 
tubular  4-5  lobed  corolla  ;  stamens  5,  separate  or  nearly  so. 

A  small  family  of  about  5;1  species,  mostly  native  of  America 
and  many  of  them  weeds.  Formerly  included  with  the  Composite 
but,  like  the  dandelions,  now  separated  for  convenience.  Only  8 
species,  known  commonly  as  ragweeds  and  cockleburs,  are  recorded 
from  Indiana.  Of  these  4  are  weeds  of  the  first  class. 

114.     AMBROSIA  TRIFIDIA   L.     Great  Ragweed.     Horse- weed.     Giant  Rag- 
weed.    Kinghead.      (A.  X.   1.) 

Erect,  branched,  rough-hairy,  3-10  feet  high;  leaves  opposite,  stalked, 
deeply  8-5  lobed,  lower  often  1  foot  wide;  upper  sometimes  undivided, 


150 


THE  INDIANA  WKK-D  BOOK. 


sharply  toothed.  Sterile  or  male  heads  in  racemes  3-10  inches  long,  their 
involucres  saucer-shaped,  3-ribhed ;  receptacles  naked ;  fertile  heads  1-3 
together  in  the  axils  of  the  upper  leaves.  Fruit  top-shaped,  £  inch  long, 
5-7  ribbed  and  with  5-7  tubercles  on  the  upper  side.  (Fig.  110.) 

Abundant  in  alluvial  or  moist  rich  soil,  often  forming  dens;- 
thickets  along  the  borders  of  streams,  roadsides  and  bottom  fields. 

July-Oct.  The  name  Ambrosia  means 
' '  food  for  the  gods. ' '  Why  it  was  used 
as  a  generic  name  for  the  ragweed  no 
one  knoweth.  The  man  who.  first  used 
it  may  have  had  the  equine  god  in 
mind,  for  horses  are  very  fond  of  this 
species,  often  forsaking  other  food  for 
its  juicy  leaves  and  branches.  Among 
the  poorer  classes  about  the  larger 
towns  and  cities  quantities  of  it  are 
gathered  in  August  and  September  to 
be  used  instead  of  hay.  Growing,  as 
it  mostly  does,  in  lowlands,  the  seeds 
are  scattered  far  and  wide  by  over- 
flowing waters.  It  is  not  a  very  ag- 
gressive weed  and  can  usually  be  easily 
subdued  by  cultivation  or  by  mowing 
or  pulling  before  the  flowers  open. 

As  one  walks  or  drives  along 
streams  or  through  low  ground  woodlands  in  early  autumn  he 
whiffs  its  peculiar  odor  which  is  exhaled  readily,  bounteously,  to 
all  comers.  To  some  persons  it  is  doubtless  disagreeable,  but  to 
the  writer  it  is  rich,  strong,  powerful — fit  odor  for  the  gods.  The 
plant  itself  is  one  of  the  largest  of  our  annuals,  often  reaching,  in 
rich  alluvial  soil,  a  height  of  16  or  more  feet  in  a.  single  season. 
Both  it  and  the  common  ragweed  harbor  a  small  ash-gray,  long- 
horned  beetle  (Dectes  spinosus  .Say),  the  larva?  of  which  hibernate 
in  their  stems.  On  the  horse-weed  the  beetle  is  usually  to  be  found 
in  June  and  July,  resting  in  the  angles  between  the  leaves  and  stem. 

115.     AMBROSIA  ARTEMISIJEFOLTA  L.     Ragweed.     Roman  Wormwood.     Hog- 
weed.     (A.  I.  1.) 

Erect,  much  branched,  finely  hairy,  1-5  feet  high ;  leaves  thin,  mostly 
alternate,  once  or  twice  divided,  the  lobes  oblong.  Racemes  of  sterile 
heads  numerous,  1-6  inches  long,  the  receptacle  chaffy.  Fruit  globular, 
armed  with  4-6  short  acute  teeth  or  spines.  (Figs.  6,  /;  111.) 

Probably  the  most  common  and  widely  distributed  weed  in  the 


Fig.  110.     Leaf,  flowerins;  branch  and  seed 
(After  Dewey.) 


WEEDS    OF    THE    RAGWEED   FAMILY. 


151 


Fig.  111.     1,  a  staminate  flower;   2,  a  fruit. 
(After  Vasey.) 


State,  occurring;  everywhere  in  both  cultivated  and  pasture  land, 

but  especially  abundant  in  stubble 
fields  after  the  crops  have  been  har- 
vested. July— Oct.  The  slender  ra- 
cemes of  little  green  staminate  flow- 
ers, like  knots  or  beads  along  the 
stem,  produce  a  bounteous  crop  of 
yellow  pollen  which  thickly  coats 
the  clothing  of  whoever  passes 
through  a  clump  of  ragweed  on  an 
August  day.  Both  it  and  the  great 
ragweed  are  known  as  "hay- fever 
plants,''  their  pollen  spores  when 
inhaled  being  popularly  supposed  to 
germinate  in  the  nostrils  and  irri- 

^ml!}/fi£  &  v£          ^a^e  ^10  nasal  membranes  of  persons 

subject  to  the  disease.  The  seeds  or 
fruit  are  common  in  clover  seed  and 
retain  their  vitality  for  years  when 
buried  in  the  soil,  springing  up 
wherever  the  land  is  plowed  or  after 
harvest  when  other  plants  are  absent.  Remedies:  mowing  or  burn- 
ing over  stubble  in  September; 
early  fall  plowing  followed  by  disk 
harrowing;  use  of  clean  seed;  late 
cultivation  in  hoed  crops;  sheep 
gra/ing  when  the  plants  are  young. 
A  prairie  form,  the  lance-leaved 
ragweed  (.4.  1>i(lcnta1a  Michx.)  oc- 
curs frequently  in  the  western 
counties  of  the  State.  From  the 
common  form  it  differs  in  having 
the  .sterile  heads  sessile,  not  short- 
stalked,  and  in  the  leaves  being 
lance-shaped,  sessile,  with  one  or 
two  sharp  teeth  near  the  base. 

1 16.     XANTHITM    SPIAOSI  M    L.      Spiny 
Cocklebur.      Paj^ei*   Cocklebur. 
P.unveed.     (A.  I.  1.) 
Stein    erect,    much    branched,    1-3 

feet     high;     leaves    lanceolate,    pointed,         *%•   H2-    «.  mature  plant;   b,  branch  showing 

spines  and  burs;   c.  bur;   d,   cross-section  of    bur 
usually    lobed    or    Cllt-tOOtlied,    Shilling,     showing  2  seeds,     (After  Dewey.; 


152 


THE    IN D TANA    WEED    BOOK. 


dark  green,  whitish  woolly  beneath ;  axils  each  with  a  short-stalked,  .'»- 
pronged,  yellow  spine  nearly  1  inch  long.  Bur  oblong-cylindric,  *  inch 
long,  hairy  and  with  1  or  2  short,  awl-shaped  beaks  and  numerous  short 
hooked  spines.  (Fig.  112.) 

This  cocklebur  has  invaded  Indiana  from  the  south,  where  it  is 
very  troublesome,  and  is  recorded  from  a  number  of  the  southern 
counties.  Aug. -Oct.  It  is  one  of  the  most  spiny  of  the  American 
weeds,  and  the  hooked  spines  on  its  burs  provide  for  Avide  distribu- 
tion by  every  passing  animal.  It  is  a  native  of  tropical  America 
and,  unlike  the  other  cockleburs,  occurs  mostly  in  grass-land,  as 
pastures,  meadows,  and  along  roadsides,  spreading  even  in  strong 
sod.  The  two  seeds  in  the  thick-walled  bur  retain  their  vitality 
for  years  and  care  should  be  taken  to  destroy  the  first  plants  which 
appear  before  the  burs  mature.  Remedies:  mowing  several  times 
iii  late  summer;  deep  cutting  with  hoe  or  spud  in  May  and  June; 
thorough  cultivation  for  two  or  three  successive  seasons. 

117.  XANTHICM  GLABRATUM  DC.  Common  Cocklebur.  Clotbur.  (A.  X.  1.) 
Erect,  rough,  branching,  1-6  feet  high ;  leaves  heart-shaped  or  ovate, 
long-stalked,  the  lower  often  8  inches  wide,  margins  toothed  or  lobed ; 
axils  without  spines.  Burs  oblong,  nearly  glabrous,  f  inch  long,  with  '2 
straight  2-toothed  beaks  and  numerous  smooth  hooked  spines.  (Figs.  1, 
e;  113.) 

Abundant  everywhere  in  rich  cultivated  soils,  barnyards,  waste 
places  and  along  roadsides.  Aug.-Oet, 
One  of  the  worst  of  corn-field  weeds  in 
river  bottoms,  and  in  pastures  especially 
annoying  in  wool  and  the  manes  of 
horses.  The  burs  with  their  two  en- 
closed seeds  are  widely  distributed  over 
lowlands  by  annual  overflows,  and  on 
the.  uplands  by  animals  to  which  they 
closely  adhere.  It  is  said  that  only  one 
of  the  2  seeds  will  germinate  the  first 
season,  the  other  lying  dormant  for  a 
year.  Another  species,  the  American 
cocklebur  or  hedgehog  burweed  (A". 
canadense  Mill.)  is  known  from  central 
Indiana  and  probably  occurs  over  most 
of  the  State.  It  differs  in  having  the 
burs  somewhat  hairy  or  glandular  with 
the  beaks  hooked  or  incurved.  Rein- 
Fig.  113.  (After  Dewey.)  pdipg  .  thorough  cultivation;  pulling  be- 
fore the  burs  are  formed ;  burning  mature  plants  before  plowing. 


WEEDS   OF    THE   THISTLE    FAMILY.  15o 

THE  THISTLE  FAMILY.— COMPOSITE. 

Herbs,  rarely  shrubs,  having  the  flowers  in  a  close  head  on  a 
common  receptacle  and  surrounded  by  an  involucre  of  few  or  many 
scales  or  bracts  arranged  in  one  or  more  rows ;  leaves  varied  in  form 
and  position;  receptacle  naked  or  with  chaffy  scales,  smooth  or 
pitted.  Calyx  tube  of  each  flower  firmly  united  to  the  ovary  and 
usually  bearing  on  its  summit  a  pappus  of  bristles,  awns,  teeth  or 
scales;  corolla  tubular,  usually  o-lobcd  or  5-cleft,  those  of  the  mar- 
ginal flowers  often  split  to  form  a  ray;  stamens  5,  borne  on  the 
corolla,  their  anthers  united  into  a  tube.  Fruit  an  achene,  con- 
sisting of  the  persistent  wall  of  the  calyx  surrounding  a  single  seed 
and  usually  crowned  with  some  sort  of  a  pappus.  (Figs.  10,  g-  11, 

/,  g;  13,  6.) 

A  vast  family  comprising,  as  above  defined,  not  less  than  10,000 
species  of  wide  geographic  distribution.  Since  the  asters  form  an 
important  group,  the  members  of  the  family  are  often  called  Aster- 
worts.  The  name  Composites  is  given  to  the  family  from  the  fact 
that  its  members  have  their  small  yet  perfect  flowers  densely 
crowded  together  into  a  head,  which  is  enclosed  in  an  involucre  or 
cup  formed  of  several  circles  of  modified  leaves  called  "bracts;" 
this  involucre  performing  the  same  protective  function  for  the  com- 
pound mass  that  the  calyx  or  outer  green  envelop  does  for  the  ordi- 
nary separate  flowers  of  other  families.  The  object  of  this  massing 
together  of  a  great  number  of  small  flowers  into  a  large  head  is  that 
they  may  more  easily  and  certainly  attract  the  attention  of  insects 
and  thus  secure  their  fertilization.  Taken  singly,  the  flowers  are 
too  small  and  inconspicuous  to  attract  separate  attention,  but  by 
huddling  themselves  together  into  a  showy  mass  they  have  proven 
themselves  very  successful  plants;  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  the 
family  is  by  far  the  largest  known  in  the  vegetable  world. 

About  205  species  of  wild  Composite}  are  known  from  Indiana, 
194  being  listed  in  Coulter's  Catalogue.  Among  them,  besides  the 
weeds  described  below,  are  the  blazing-stars,  golden-rods,  asters, 
everlastings,  leaf-cups,  rosin-weeds,  cone-flowers,  sunflowers,  worm- 
woods, Indian  plantains  and  ragworts.  It  is  preeminently  a  family 
of  weeds  as,  except  from  an  aesthetic  point  of  view,  but  three  or 
four  of  the  200  species  are  of  the  least  benefit  to  the  inhabitants 
of  the  State.  The  few  exceptions  are  used  in  medicines,  a  dose  of 
boneset  or  yarrow  tea  being  occasionally  given  by  some  grand- 
mother or  quack  doctor  for  a  fancied  ailment.  But  the  lover  of 
nature,  whose  eye  is  ever  on  the  search  for  the  pleasing  and  the 


154  THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 

beautiful,  blesses  the  existence  of  these  Composite,  for  the  hues  of 
the  asters,  golden-rods,  sunflowers,  etc.,  absent,  our  late  summer 
and  autumn  scenery  would  lose  much  of  the  charm  due  to  their 
variety  of  color. 

Since  the  number  of  species  of  Indiana  weeds  in  this  family  are 
so  many  they  are  divided  into  three  groups,  separated  by  the  fol- 
lowing simple  key  or  table.  This  grouping  is  for  convenience  only, 
and  necessitates  the  changing  of  the  order  of  these  weeds  as  they 
occur  in  the  botanies. 

KEY   TO   GROUPS   OF  INDIANA   COMPOSITE   WEEDS. 

a.  Heads   without   visible   ray-flowers    around   the   margins,    the   flowers 
rarely  yellow,  all  discoid  or  tuhular  or  the  rays  very  rudimentary. 

Group  A.,  p.  154. 

(id.  Heads  with  one  or  more  rows  of  prominent  ray-flowers  about  the  mar- 
gins, those  of  center  all  tubular. 

1>.  Rays  yellow.  Group  B.,  p.  168. 

M).  Rays  white,  blue  or  pinkish.  Group  C.,  p.  JT5. 

GROUP  A. 

To  this  group,  having  the  flowers  of  the  head  all  tubular,  belong 
our  weeds  known  as  iron-weeds,  bonesets  or  snake-roots,  everlast- 
ings, wormwoods,  fire  weeds,  burdock  and  thistles.  With  them  are 
also  included  the  horse-weed,  fcetid  marigold,  tansy  and  two  or 
three  species  of  beggar-ticks  or  Spanish  needles,  which  have  the 
rays  rudimentary  or  shorter  than  the  disk  flowers. 

118.     YERXONIA  FASCICL'LATA  Michx.     Western  Iron-weed.     (P.  N.  1.) 

Erect,  branching,  glabrous  or  sparingly  hah^,  2-6  feet  high ;  leaves 
thick,  alternate,  lanceolate,  pointed,  3-6  inches  long,  sharply  toothed. 
Heads  numerous,  short-stalked,  20-30  flowered ;  receptacle  flat,  naked ; 
flowers  reddish-purple;  involucre  bell-shaped,  the  bracts  in  several  rows 
all  closely  overlapping.  Achenes  cylindric,  glabrous,  8-10  ribbed;  pappus 
of  2  rows  of  brownish  bristles,  the  inner  hair-like,  the  outer  shorter. 
chaffy.  (Fig.  114.) 

Very  common  throughout  the  State  in  permanent  grass-lands 
and  along  roadsides.  July-Sept.  One  of  the  worst  of  pasture 
weeds,  crowding  out  the  blue-grass,  and  in  places  taking  almost 
complete  possession  of  the  soil.  The  form  above  described  is  that 
most  commonly  found  in  dry  soil  in  open  upland  wooded  pastures. 
Associated  with  it  in  moist,  rich  bottom  pastures  are  the  tall  iron- 
weed  (V.  tuaxhnd  Small)  5-10  feet  high  and  having  the  leaves  thin, 
finely  toothed,  achenes  hispid  and  inflorescence  loosely  branched 
and  open;  and  the  eastern  iron-weed  (V.  noveboracc-nsis  L.),  3-12 


WEEDS    OF    THE    THISTLE    FAMILY. 


155 


Fig  .114.    Western  Iron-weed . 


feet  high  with  the  bracts  of  the  involucre  brownish-purple,  tipped 

with  spreading  awns. 

The  perennial  roots  of  all 
these  are  stout  and  fibrous,  and 
each  autumn  are  filled  with  a  suf- 
ficient supply  of  nourishment  to 
give  the  stalk  of  the  ensuing  year 
a  good  start  in  life.  They  radiate 
in  all  directions  from  the  base  of 
the  stem,  spreading  over  an  area, 
of  several  square  yards  and  pene- 
trating the  soil  in  search  of 
moisture  to  such  a.  depth  as  to 
render  abortive  any  attempt  of 
man  to  pull  the  plant  up  bodily, 
roots  and  all.  The  leaves  are  so 
innutritions  that  none  of  the 
higher  animals,  not  even  sheep, 
will  feed  upon  them. 

The  only  insect  enemies  of  the 
iron-weeds,  so  far  as  noticed,  are 
the  margined  and  black  blister  beetles*  which  attack  the  leaves 
when  other  food  is  scarce,  and  a  small  gall-fly  whose  larvae  feed 
upon  the  juices  of  the  flowering  branches.  They  are  also  preyed 
upon  at  times  by  the  leaf  and  downy  mildews  and  by  several  rusts, 
but  none  of  these  serve  to  retard  their  growth  to  any  great  extent. 
Many  species  of  bumble-bees  and  butterflies  visit  the  blossoms  in 
search  of  nectar  and  pollen,  and  thus  aid  materially  in  their  fertil- 
ization. The  flowers  in  each  head  number,  on  the  average,  25, 
each  of  which  produces  a  single  seed.  On  one  specimen  of  medium 
size  were  counted  743  heads,  so  that  18,575  seeds,  each  capable  of 
becoming  a  fully  developed  iron-weed,  were  borne  by  that  plant 
alone,  and  the  majority  produce  as  many,  or  more.  To  secure  a 
broad  dissemination  each  of  these  seeds  bears  at  maturity  a  tuft  or 
pappus  of  light  brown  bristles,  and  by  its  aid  the  seed  may  be 
wafted  by  the  wind  miles  away  from  the  parent  plant.  Again,  as 
the  iron-weed  gro\vs  in  greatest  luxuriance  in  the  lowland  pastures 
near  small  streams,  many  of  the  seeds  fall  upon  the  water  and  are 
borne  onward  till  they  lodge  against  some  bank  or  arc  buried  in 
the  sediment  deposited  by  an  overflow;  places  well  suited  for  their 
future  growth.  In  these  ways  the  weed  is  continually  spreading 

*Epicauta  marginata  Fab.  and  E.  Pennsylvania!  DeG. 


156  THE    JXDUXA    WEED    BOOK. 

into  pastures  which  have  heretofore  been  entirely  free  from  it. 
Taking  into  consideration  that  it  is  a  native  plant  and  therefore 
well  suited  to  our  soil ;  the  character  of  its  roots ;  the  immense 
number  of  seeds  produced;  the  modes  of  their  dissemination,  and 
its  almost  total  exemption  from  the  attacks  of  injurious  insects,  it 
is  no  wonder  that  it  is  so  well  able  to  hold  its  own  in  the  struggle 
for  existence,  and  also  to  increase  in  numbers  from  year  to  year. 
Kemedies:  mowing  or  hoe-cutting  four  times  (in  May,  June,  July 
and  August)  each  season,  thus  preventing  the  leaves  from  storing 
nourishment  in  the  roots:  deep  hoe-cutting  and  salting;  thorough 
cultivation  where  practicable.  The  first  remedy  Avill,  if  kept  up 
for  two  or  three  years,  practically  eradicate  the  weed. 

It  has  been  said  that  all  things  in  nature  have  their  use — that 
nothing  exists  but  for  a  purpose.  It  is  the  work  of  science  to  dis- 
cover and  make  known  the  use  of  nature's  objects,  and  day  by  day 
her  secrets  are  gradually  being  exposed,  thereby  advancing  man  in 
civilization  by  enabling  him  to  better  control  the  ravages  of  those 
existing  forms  which  are  injurious  to  his  interests.  If,  however, 
the  iron-weed  has  a  use,  other  than  that  shown  in  the  beauty  of 
its  flowers,  no  one  has  yet  discovered  it.  But  there  is  time,  for  of 
the  thousands  of  plant  forms  which  exist,  we  know  the  uses  of  only 
a  few,  as  corn  and  hemp,  ginseng  and  blood-root.  Let  us  hope  that 
some  valuable  medicinal  or  other  property  will  soon  be  discovered 
in  the  iron-weed  and  a  reason  for  its  existence  thereby  pointed  out 
to  the  doubting  humanity  of  the  present. 

Meanwhile  the  naturalist  will  go  on  admiring  the  beauty  of  its 
bloom ;  for  however  coarse  and  repulsive  the  stem  and  leaves  may 
appear,  each  head,  with  its  25  or  30  dainty  florets  so  prettily 
grouped  within  their  protective  cup,  reveals  a  striking  beauty  to 
the  true  lover  of  nature.  And  when  in  the  glamour  of  an  August 
morn  he  stands  upon  a  hillside  and  views  acre  upon  acre  of  the 
broad  purple  cymes  waving  in  the  valley  beneath,  all  memories  of 
the  plant  as  a  pernicious  Aveed  are  blotted  from  his  mind  by  the  at- 
tractiveness of  the  scene  before  him. 

110.     Ei'PATORiuM    PURPUREUM    L.      Jo-pye-weed.      Trumpet-weed.      Purple 

P.oneset.     (P.  X.  3.) 

Stem  erect,  simple  or  branched  at  top,  green  or  purple.  3-12  feet 
high;  leaves  thin,  in  whorls  of  3-0,  oval  or  lanceolate,  stalked,  pointed, 
sharply  toothed,  4-12  inches  long.  Heads  numerous  in  a  more  or  less 
elongated,  branched  cluster,  5-15  ilowered ;  involucre  cylindrical,  the 
bracts  pink,  oblong,  in  4  or  5  closely  overlapping  rows;  flowers  pinkish  or 
reddish-purple.  Achenes  5-angled.  (Fig.  115.) 


WEEDS   OF    THE    THISTLE    FAMILY. 


157 


Common   along   fence-rows,   borders   of  thickets,   streams   and 
lakes,  especially  in  low  moist  grounds.     July-Oct.     The  tall  stem, 

whorled  leaves  and  handsome  heads 
of  flowers  make  it  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  of  our  Composite?.  Both 
it  and  all  the  other  bonesets  may  be 
distinguished  from  the  iron-weeds 
by  the  pappus  which  is  made  up  of 
a  single  row  of  rough,  hair-like 
bristles,  while  in  the  iron-weeds  the 
pappus  is  double,  the  inner  row  be- 
ing of  bristles  and  the  outer  of  short 
scales.  The  purple  boneset  is  not 
an  aggressive  weed,  being  seldom 
found  in  open  pastures,  and  can  be 
easily  killed  out  by  frequent  mow 

Fig.  115.     Single  flower  on  left;   head  of  flowers     •  ->  ,,  • 

on  right.     (After  Britton  and  Brown.)  ing   Or   deep   Cutting. 


120. 


PERFOLIATTM    L.      Common    Thoroughwoi't.      Boneset. 


EUPATORIUM 

(P.   N.   3.) 

Stem  stout,  hairy,  branched  above,  2-5  feet  high ;  leaves  opposite, 
united  at  base  and  surrounding  the  stem,  horizontal  or  half  erect,  lance- 
olate, long-pointed,  finely  toothed.  Heads 
crowded  in  a  fiat-topped  cluster,  10-16 
flowered ;  involucre  bell-shaped,  the  bracts 
lanceolate,  pointed,  in  2  or  .">  overlapping 
rows;  flowers  white,  rarely  bluish.  (Fig. 

no.) 

Very  common  in  low  moist  mead 
ows.  along  ditches,  borders  of  streams, 
lakes,  etc.  July-Sept.  A  well  known 
weed,  much  used  in  the  country  as 
a  remedy  for  fever  and  ague,  whence 
the  names  "feverwort"  and  "ague- 
weed"  by  which  it  is  sometimes 
known ;  also  for  colds,  dyspepsia  aud 
as  a  tonic.  The  leaves  and  flowering 
tops  are  the  parts  used,  and  if  gath- 
ered for  sale  should  be  stripped  from 
the  stalk  when  the  latter  is  in  flower  i)UR- 

and  carefully  dried.  They  bring  from  2  to  8  cents  per  pound. 
When  their  infusion  is  taken  in  large1  doses  it  acts  as  an  emetic 
and  cathartic.  When  too  abundant,  the  boneset  can  be  killed  out 
by  drainage,  frequent  mowing,  or  thorough  cultivation. 


Fig.  116. 


a 

a,  mature  head: 


I,  fruit  with  pap- 
( After  Watson. J 


158 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


121.     EUPATORIUM    AGERATOIDES    L.      White    Suake-root.      White    Sanicle. 

(P.  N.  3.) 

Erect,  glabrous  or  nearly  so,  much  branched,  1-4  feet  high ;  leaves 
thin,  opposite,  broadly  ovate,  slender-stalked,  pointed,  coarsely  and  sharply 
toothed,  3-G  inches  long.  Heads  numerous  in  loose  clusters,  10-30 
flowered;  involucre  bell-shaped,  the  bracts  equal,  linear,  pointed,  in  1  or 
2  rows ;  flowers  white. 

Common  in  dense  woods  and  thickets  and  along  roadsides  in 
shaded  places,  usually  in  rich  moist  soil.  July— Oct.  Supposed  by 
many  to  be  the  cause  of  trembles  in  sheep,  cattle  and  horses  and  of 
milk  sickness  in  humans.  "While  by  most  physicians  and  botanists 
this  poisonous  character  is  denied,  Mr.  E.  L.  Moseley  has,  by 
numerous  experiments,  recently  proven*  that  it  causes  trembles 
and  death  when  fed  to  cats,  rabbits  and  lambs.  He  states  that 
cattle  and  sheep  will  not  touch  the  weed  when  other  forage  is 
plentiful,  but  that  when  turned  into  a  closely  cropped  pasture 
or  one  covered  with  snow  they  eat  it  and  are  soon  affected  with 
trembles.  The  milk  from  cows  which  have  eaten  it  under  such 
conditions  has  been  known  to  cause  milk  sickness  and  death.  While 
the  weed  is  not  aggressive  it  should  be  cleared  out  of  woods  used 
for  pasture.  This  can  be  done  by  drainage  or  by  successive  mow- 
ings. The  root  is  used  in  medicines  and,  when  properly  prepared, 
brings  3  to  4  cents  per  pound. 

122.  LEPTILON  CAKADENSE  L.  Horse- 
weed.  Butterweed.  Mare's  Tail. 
(A.  N.  1.) 

Erect,  bristly-hairy,  usually  much 
branched,  very  leafy,  1-8  feet  high; 
lower  and  basal  leaves  spoon-shaped, 
stalked,  cut-lobed ;  upper  linear,  entire. 
Heads  small,  very  numerous,  in  an 
open  panicle ;  receptacle  naked ;  invol- 
ucre bell-shaped,  its  bracts  narrow  in  2 
or  3  overlapping  rows;  flowers  dull 
white;  rays  numerous  but  shorter  than 
the  pappus  and  therefore  inconspicuous. 
Achene  flattened;  pappus  a  single  row 
of  hair-like  straw-colored  bristles.  (Fig. 
117.) 

Very  common  in  fields,  gardens 
and  open  waste;  places,  especially  in 
damp  sandy  soil.  June-Get.  Occurs  especially  in  old  abandoned 
or  fallow  fields  and  in  stubble.  The  seeds  are  very  numerous,  the 


Fig.  117.     (After  Watson.) 


*0hio  Naturalist,  VI,  1906,  463-470;  477-483. 


WEEDS   OP   THE   THISTLE   F  \M1LY.  15;) 

stern  stout  and  the  root  small.  In  size  it  varies  much  according  to 
the  richness  of  the  soil.  Widely  distributed  in  Europe  and  South 
America  in  exchange  for  some  of  the  many  weeds  they  have  fur- 
nished us.  Remedies:  pulling  before  the  seeds  ripen;  mowing  or 
burning  in  early  autumn. 

The  horse-weed  is  used  in  medicine  as  a  remedy  for  dropsy, 
diarrhea,  etc.  It  is  sometimes  called  ''blood  stanch,"  being  used 
for  stopping  bleeding  from  wounds  The  fresh  herb  when  distilled 
yeilds  a  volatile  oil  known  as  oil  of  fleabane.  When  the  plant  is 
freely  handled  this  sometimes  causes  a  skin  eruption,  somewhat 
similar  to  that  produced  by  poison  ivy.  The  leaves  and  upper 
branches  when  gathered  and  dried  during  the  flowering  season 
bring  from  6  to  8  cents  per  pound. 

12:>.     ANTENNARTA  PLANTAGIXIFOLIA  L.     Phintain-leaf  Everlasting.     Mouse- 
oar.     Indian  Tobacco.     (P.  N.  2.) 

Low  woolly  herbs  spreading  by  offshoots  or  runners  and  having  the 
male  and  female  heads  on  separate  plants;  steins  of  fertile  plants  (V-1S 
inches,  of  the  sterile,  3-8  inches  high  ;  basal  leaves  in  rosettes,  woolly, 
broadly  oval  or  spoon-shaped,  3-ribbed,  dark  green  above,  silvery  white 
below;  stem  leaves  linear  or  oblong,  sessile.  Heads  numerous  in  small 
crowded  clusters  or  short  spikes ;  receptacle  naked,  pitted ;  involucre  bell- 
shaped,  its  whitish  scales  in  several  overlapping  rows ;  flowers  all  tubular, 
cream-colored.  Achenes  cylindric,  slightly  flattened.  Pappus  a  single  row 
of  hair-like  bristles,  in  the  female  flowers  more  copious  and  united  at 
base. 

Common  in  dry  clayey,  hair-barren  soil  on  the  slopes  of  open 
upland  woods  and  old  fields.  April-June.  Spreading  both  by 
numerous  seeds  and  runners,  it  forms  broad  patches,  those  of  the 
sterile  and  fertile  plants  often  separate,  crowding  out  or  taking  the 
place  of  blue-grass  and  thus  greatly  lessening  the  pasture  value  of 
the  land.  It  is  one  of  the  earliest  of  the  Composite  to  blossom, 
often  appearing  the  first  of  April.  The  flower  stems  are  then  very 
low,  but  like  those  of  the  dandelion  soon  arise  to  a  foot  or  more 
in  height.  Remedies:  increased  fertilization  and  reseeding  in  pas- 
tures; cultivation  and  rotation  with  clover  in  old  fields. 

124.     GxAPriALii  M    oirrrsiFourM    fj.      Fragrant   or   Common    Everlasting. 

Sweet  Balsam.      (A.   X.  3.) 

Stem  oroct,  woolly,  simple  or  branched,  l-.'J  feet  high  ;  loaves  alternate, 
linear  or  lanceolate,  tapering  at  base,  sessile,  pointed,  dark  green  above, 
densely  white  woolly  beneath,  l-.°>  inches  long.  Heads  numerous,  in 
panicled  clusters  of  2  -."> ;  receptacle  flat,  naked;  involucre  cone-shaped,  its 
bracts  dry,  whitish,  in  several  overlapping  rows;  flowers  few.  dull  white. 
Achenes  glabrous,  oblong-cylindrical  ;  pappus  a  single  row  of  hair-lik- 
lu-istlos.  (Fig.  US.) 


.160 


TITK    IXDfANA    WfcKT)    ROOK. 


Fig.   118.     Pistillate  flower  on  left;  central 
one  on  right.    (After  Bricton  and  Brown.) 


Common  in  dry  soil  on  the  slopes  of  open  woodland  pastures 
and  old  fields.  July-Sept.  A  homely  but  very  fragrant  lierb  oc- 
cupying waste  places  yet  not  aggressive  enough  to  do  much  harm. 
Remedies :  frequent  mowing  or  pulling  before  the  heads  mature. 

As  one  travels  along  the  country  roads  or  wanders  through 
the  woodlands  from  mid-July  to  October  he  inhales  many  an  odor 

but  none  more  pleasing  than  that  which 
comes  from  this  Composite.  There  is 
nothing  like  it  in  the  rambler's  cate- 
gory of  smells.  Once  known  it  is  never 
forgotten,  and  each  season  it  is  greeted 
with  ever  growing  delight.  If  there  is 
any  other  odor  which  it  recalls  it  is  that 
of  the  earth,  earthy  on  the  first  days 
of  the  great  awakening.  Then  the 
moistened  leaves  and  mold  give  up 
from  many  a  woodland  surface  the 
quintessence  of  herbs  and  grass  and 
flowers  long  since  dead  and  forgotten. 
But  the  odor  of  the  everlasting  is  that 
of  a  living  thing  which  one  can  gather  and  put  into  his  pocket 
where  for  months  it  will  exhale  its  fragrance.  Where  the  plant  is 
plentiful  the  odor  penetrates  the  air  for  rods  around  and  is  often 
borne  to  the  traveler  by  whom  it  is  welcomed  though  its  source  be 
to  him  unknown.  What  combination  of  chemical  atoms,  what  per- 
fect union  of  C.  and  H.  and  0.  and  other  elements,  must  there  be 
for  its  production?  What  a  hidden  secret  must  this  herb  possess 
that  it  is  enabled  to  produce  and  exhale  such  a  unique,  pleasing 
and  life-inspiring  fragrance ! 
125.  BIDEXS  COXNATA  Muhl.  Swamp  Beggar-ticks.  (A.  N.  1.) 

Steins  erect,  purple,  glabrous,  usually  much  branched,  1-5  feet  high; 
leaves  thin,  opposite,  stalked,  lanceolate  or  oblong,  sharply  and  coarsely 
toothed,  pointed,  2-5  inches  long,  the  lower  often  3-lobed.  Heads  num- 
erous, erect,  stalked,  about  1  inch  broad  ;  involucre  bell-shaped,  its  bracts 
in  2  rows,  the  outer  ones  the  larger;  receptacle  flat,  chaffy;  rays  none  or 
1-5  and  inconspicuous;  disk-flowers  orange.  Acheues  wedge-shaped,  flat, 
often  keeled,  edges  bristly-hairy,  top  with  2-4  stiff  downwardly  barbed 
pappus-awns.  (Fig.  1,  ?>.) 

Very  common  in  swamps,  borders  of  marshes  and  low  wet  bot- 
tom lands.  July-Get.  This  is  one  of  8  or  10  species  of  trouble- 
some weeds  occurring  in  the  State  and  known  as  bur-marigolds, 
beggar-ticks,  tick-seed  sunflowers,  pitch-forks,  devil's  bootjacks,  etc. 
Some  of  them  have  prominent  yellow  rays  and  will  be  treated  on 


WEEDS   OF   T1TE   THISTLE   FAMILY. 


161 


another  page.  All  have  the  top  of  the  achenes  or  seeds  armed  with 

strongly  barbed  bristles  or  awns 
by  which  they  readily  adhere  to 
clothing,  wool  or  hair  of  animals 
and  thus  are  widely  scattered. 
The  awns  are  usually  2  in  num- 
ber, whence  the  generic  name  Bi- 
dens,  meaning  two-toothed.  A 
closely  allied  species  is  the  com- 
mon beggar-ticks  (B.  frondosa 
L.,  Fig.  119),  which  is  also  very 
common  in  moist  soil  in  fence 

j"  ^§  "*  Mj  corners,  gardens,  corn  fields  find 

T^V  lr\  f  Ml  waste  places.  It  has  the  leaves 

3-5  divided,  the  outer  bracts 
larger  and  achenes  wider  with 
more  slender  awns.  The  juices 
sometimes  cause  an  itching  or 
skin  irritation  when  the  plant  is 
Fig.  119.  (After  Vasey)  handled.  Both  can  be  easily  de- 

stroyed by  mowing  before  the  seeds  ripen,  thorough  cultivation  or 

improved  drainage. 

120.     BIUENS   BIPINNATA  L.     Spanish   Needles.      (A.   N.  2.) 

Stein  erect,  4-sided,  branched,  1-5  feet 
high  ;  leaves  stalked,  1-8  times  divided  into 
oblong  toothed  or  lobed  segments.  Heads 
numerous,  long-stalked  ;  involucre  narrow, 
its  bracts  linear,  the  inner  ones  the  larger  ; 
flowers  few,  dull  yellow  ;  rays  none  or  3-4, 
short,  yellow.  Achenes  linear,  4-sided,  f 
inch  long,  narrowed  upward  into  a  beak 
which  bears  8  or  4  short  downwardly  barbed 
awns.  (Fig.  120.) 

Common  in  gardens,  cultivated  fields, 
borders  of  thickets  and  waste  places,  es- 
pecially in  rich  moist  soil.  July-Oct. 
Remedies:  pulling  or  mowing  before 

Fig.  120.    Long  inner  fruit  with  barbed 
the     SeCCiS     ripen;     burning     OVer    StUDble    awns;    shorter    and    thicker    outer    fruit. 

fields  and  waste  places  in  autumn. 


127.     lid'HERA  PAPPOSA    \7ent.     F(«ti(l   Marigold.     Yellow   Dog-fennel.      (A. 

N.  2.) 

Erect,    glanduhir,    strong-scented,    very    leafy,    much    branched,    G-1S 
inches  high  ;  leaves  opposite,  sessile,  divided  into  linear  bristle-toothed  or 

[ill 


162 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


Fig     121.     Short  ray-flower  on  left; 
disk-flower    on    right. 


and  Brown.) 


(After  Bntton 


cut-lobed  segments.  Heads  numerous,  short-stalked  on  the  ends  of  the 
branches;  involucre  bell-shaped,  its  8-30  oblong,  purplish  bracts  in  one 
row;  receptacle  flat,  chaffy;  rays  few,  short,  inconspicuous;  disk-flowers 

numerous,  dull  yellow.  Achenes  4-angled, 
wider  above,  hairy,  crowned  by  a  ring  of  short 
hair-like  brownish  bristles.  (Fig.  121.) 

Common  along  roadsides,  banks  of 
streams,  railways  and  borders  of  fields, 
especially  in  gravelly  or  clayey  soils. 
June— Oct.  A  migrant  from  the  west 
brought  in  by  railways  and  seeds  in  hay. 
Readily  known  by  the  large  pellucid 
glands  of  the  leaves  and  bracts  which  ex- 
hale a  very  disagreeable  odor.  In  many 
places  it  seems  to  have  taken  the  place  of 
the  common  dog-fennel  (An  the  mis  col  ul  n 
L.).  The  odor  of  the  latter  was  bad 
enough  but  that  of  the  foetid  marigold  is  infinitely  more  disgusting. 
Remedies:  mowing  while  in  flower;  cultivation,  when  practicable, 
of  the  land  infested. 
328.  TANACETUM  VULGARE  L.  Tansy.  (P.  I.  3.) 

Stems  stout,  unbranched,  1-3  feet  high ;  leaves  twice  divided  into 
linear  or  oblong,  cut-toothed  segments.  Heads  numerous,  small,  in  dense 
flat-topped  terminal  clusters;  involucre  saucer-shaped,  its  oblong  bracts 
in  several  overlapping  rows ;  receptacle  flat,  naked ;  flowers  yellow,  all 
tubular.  Achenes  angled  and  ribbed,  with  flat  top  and  a  crown  or  pappus 
of  5  short  scales.  (Fig.  122.) 

Frequent  in  dense  clusters  along  fence- 
rows,  embankments,  waysides,  etc.  July- 
Sept,  An  ill-smelling  herb,  formerly  much 
cultivated  in  gardens  but  escaped  and 
spreading  in  many  places.  Remedies :  suc- 
cessive mowings  or  grubbing ;  cultivation. 

For  sale  the  leaves  and  tops  should  be 
collected  when  in  flower,  and  carefully 
dried.  The  infusion  is  bitter  and  acrid 
and  is  used  as  a  stimulant,  tonic,  vermifuge, 
etc.  "When  taken  in  overdoses  the  oil  of 
tansy  is  poisonous.  About  40,000  pounds 
are  imported  annually,  the  price  ranging  «  cat 

from   3   tO   6   Cents  per  pound.       In   England     Fig.  122.     a,  disk-flower;  6,  ray-flower; 

e,  fruit.     (After  Watson  ) 

it  was  formerly  thought  that  tansy  laid  to 

soak  in  buttermilk  for  nine  days  would  "make  the  complexion  very 

fair." 


WEEDS    OP    THE    THISTLE    FAMILY. 


163 


120.     ARTEMISIA  BIENNIS  Willd.     Wormwood.     (A.  or  B.  N.  2.) 

Stem  erect,  very  leafy,  branched,  1-4  feet  high ;  leaves  alternate,  once 

or  twice  divided  into  linear  or  oblong, 
toothed  lobes.  Heads  small,  numerous, 
sessile  in  dense  axillary  clusters  or  short 
spikes;  involucre  cup-shaped,  its  bracts 
green  with  dry  margins ;  receptacle  flat, 
naked  ;  flowers  tubular,  greenish.  Achenes 
small,  slender;  pappus  none.  (Fig.  123.) 

Common  along  dry  gravelly  banks 
of  streams,  roadsides  and  waste  places 
about  cities  and  towns  in  southern  In- 
diana; less  so  northward.  July-Sept. 
It  has  a  disagreeable,  penetrating  odor 
and  a  bitter  taste.  With  us  it  is  the 
most  common  of  6  or  7  species  of  so- 
called  wormwoods,  all  of  which  are 
homely,  weed-like  plants.  Remedies: 
pulling  or  grubbing;  mowing  several 
times  before  the  heads  mature. 


Fig.  123.    Head  of  flowers  below;  single  flow- 
ers above.      (After  Britton  and  Brown.) 


ISO.     ERECIITITES  HIERACIFOLLA  L.     Fireweed.     Pilewort.     (A.  N.  3.) 

Stem  erect,  branching,  grooved,  succulent,  1-8  feet  high;  leaves  thin, 
alternate,  lanceolate  or  narrowly  ovate,  cut-toothed,  2-8  inches  long. 
Heads  rather  large,  in  an  open  panicle  at  the  ends  of  the  branches;  in- 
volucre cylindric,  swollen  at  base,  its  bracts  linear  in  one  row ;  receptacle 
concave,  naked;  flowers  white,  all  tubular.  Achene  linear-oblong,  grooved; 
pappus  a  large  tuft  of  smooth  white  hairs. 

Frequent  in  rich  moist  soil  along  borders  of  woods  and  thickets. 
Very  common  in  newly  cleared  ground,  especially  where  brush-piles 
have  been  burned.  July-Sept.  In  a  deadening  caused  by  fire  this 
weed  is  the  first  plant  to  spring  up,  often  taking  complete  posses- 
sion of  the  soil  for  a  year  or  two,  then  giving  way  to  more  hardy 
species.  The  foliage  is  often  attacked  by  mildews  and  a  small 
Carabid  beetle  (Anisodactylus  terminatus  Say)  is  sometimes  found 
by  scores  feeding  upon  its  ripening  seeds.  An  ointment  made  from 
the  essential  oil  is  said  to  be  a  most  excellent  remedy  for  piles.  It 
seldom  occurs"  in  cultivated  fields  and  being  an  annual  is  easily 
controlled  by  mowing  or  pulling  before  the  flowers  appear. 

131.     AUCTIUM   MINUS  Schk.     Common  Burdock.      (K  I.  1.) 

Stem  erect,  grooved,  fleshy,  much  branched,  1-5  feet  high  ;  leaves  thin, 
alternate,  broadly  ovate,  pale  and  somewhat  woolly  beneath,  the  lower 
often  15  inches  long,  their  stalks  hollow,  grooved,  margins  wavy  or 
toothed.  Heads  numerous  in  dense  clusters ;  involucre  f  inch  broad,  sub- 


164 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


globose,  its  bracts  glabrous,  very  numerous  and  tapering  to  long  stiff 
points  which  become  rigid  and  hooked  at  tip  to  form  a  bur,  the  inner 
ones  erect  and  shorter  than  the  flowers ;  receptacle  flat,  densely  bristly ; 
flowers  purplish,  all  tubular.  Achenes  light  brown,  oblong,  ribbed  or 
3-augled;  pappus  of  short  bristly  scales.  (Figs.  1,  d ;  124.) 

Very  common  about  the  sites  of  old  houses,  barnyards,  fence 
corners  and  waste  places  generally.  July-Oct.  A  coarse,  un- 
sightly, ill-smelling  social  weed  which 
has  followed  man  over  much  of  the 
continent,  yet  whose  presence  on  any 
farm  betokens  a  negligent  and  slov- 
enly owner.  Tt  produces  the  first  year 
of  its  growth  only  a  rosette  of  largo 
root  leaves  resembling  those  of  the 
common  "pie-plant,"  from  the  midst 
of  which  the  flower-stalk  of  the  next 
season  springs.  When  ripe  the  whole 
flower  head  separates  as  a  bur,  which 
is  very  annoying  in  the  wool  of  sheep 
and  the  manes  of  horses,  and  sticks 
closer  than  a  brother  to  the  clothes  of 


Fig.  124.     (After  Clark.) 


man.     These  burs  are  almost  ideal  for 


seed  distribution,  the  seed  being  widely  scattered  as  the  bur  is 
carried  along.  Remedies:  deep  cutting  below  the  crown  with  hoe 
or  spud  before  flowering;  burning  the  mature  plants;  repeated 
mowing. 

The  seeds  are  very  numerous,  a  large  plant  producing  400,000 
or  more,  and  when  dried  both  they  and  the  roots  are  used  in  blood 
and  skin  diseases  and  the  fresh  leaves  as  poultices  for  swellings  and 
ulcers.  The  tap-root  of  burdock  is  large,  fleshy,  a  foot  or  more  long, 
and  is  sold  under  the  name  of  lappa,  the  price  ranging  from  3  to 
8  cents  per  pound.  Tt  should  be  collected  in  the  fall  of  the  first 
year,  washed,  split  lengthwise  and  carefully  dried.  The  seeds,  if 
gathered  when  ripe  or  nearly  so,  have  a  value  of  5  to  10  cents  a 
pound. 

1.32.  CARDUUS  LANCEOIATUS  L.  Common  Thistle.  Bull  Thistle.  (B.  I.  1.) 
Stem  stout,  branched,  leafy  to  the  heads,  more  or  less  woolly,  2-4 
feet  higu ;  leaves  dark  green,  lanceolate,  pointed,  deeply  cut-lobed,  the 
lobes  and  teeth  tipped  with  stout  prickles,  the  base  and  margins,  which 
extend  downward  along  the  stem,  bristly.  Heads  mostly  solitary  at  the 
ends  of  the  branches,  about  2  inches  long  and  when  fully  open  almost  as 
broad;  bracts  of  the  involucre  in  many  overlapping  rows,  lanceolate, 
pointed,  tipped  with  slender  erect  prickles;  flowers  dark  purple.  Achenes 


WEEDS   OF    THE    THISTLE    FAMILY. 


165 


gray,   ribbed,   ^   iiicli   long;   pappus  of  several   rows   of   slender   hair-like 
white  bristles.     (Fig.  125.) 

Very  common  in  pastures,  along  roadsides,  fence-rows  and  in 
old  abandoned  fields.  June- Sept.  One  of  the  worst  of  pasture 

weeds,  its  long  basal  root-leaves 
of  the  first  season  spreading  over 
and  smothering  out  the  blue- 
grass.  The  tap-root  runs  deep 
and  the  plant  can  be  easily  killed 
by  cutting  below  its  crown.  This 
should  be  done  in  the  late  au- 
tumn or  early  spring  with  hoe  or 
spud;  repeated  mowing  before 
the  seeds  ripen  is  a  less  efficient 
remedy. 

Armed  below  with  many  a 
stiff  spine  and  prickly  involucral 
scale,  the  purple  head  of  this 
thistle  is  itself  more  soft  and 
yielding  than  velvet.  To  an  eye 
which  appreciates  solid  beauty 
the  first  thistle  blossom  of  the 
year,  opening  from  the  apex  of 
the  central  stalk,  is  one  of  the 
most  attractive  of  our  wild-wood 
flowers.  Of  what  a  number  of  cylindrical  rays  is  it  composed ! 
How  compactly  and  prettily  are  they  grouped!  What  a  soft  and 
delicate  expanse  they  unfold  to  view !  The  purple  head  is  erect— 
a  great  eye,  as  it  were,  gazing  up  into  the  blue  ethereal  depths 
above —  purple  looking  into  blue — and  mayhap  gathering  from  the 
latter  a  deeper  hue  to  add  unto  its  loveliness. 

This  thistle  is  the  national  flower  of  Scotland,  adopted,  so  the 
story  goes,  because  it  frustrated  the  capture  of  that  country  by  the 
Danes  a  thousand  years  and  more  ago.  While  stealing  upon  a 
Scotch  town  after  night,  one  of  the  Danes  stepped  on  a  thistle  and 
cried  out  with  pain.  His  cry  awakened  the  Scots  and  saved  their 
town.  Beneath  the  Scottish  emblem  which  bears  the  thistle  there 
is  often  placed  the  motto:  "No  one  injures  me  with  impunity." 

In  England  the  thistle  was  also  sacred  to  Thor  the  god  of 
thunder,  and  was  supposed  TO  be  colored  by  the  lightning.  To 
dream  of  being,  surrounded  by  it  was  considered  a  propitious  sign, 
foretelling  that  the  person  so  dreaming  would  soon  receive  some 
pleasing  news 


Fig.  125.  a,  piece  of  main  stem  with  leaf;  6,  flower 
head;  c,  seed  with  pappus;  d,  seed  with  pappus  de- 
tached. (After  Dewey.) 


166  THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 

133.  CARDUI-S  ALTISSIMUS  L.     Tall  Thistle.    Roadside  Thistle.     (B.  X.  2.) 
Stem    stout,    branched,    woolly,    leafy   to   the  heads,   3-10   feet   high ; 

leaves  undivided,  ovate-oblong  or  oblong-lanceolate,  sessile,  densely  white 
woolly  beneath,  the  margins  with  bristle-pointed  teeth  or  cut-lobes,  the 
lower  8-10  inches  long,  the  upper  narrower  and  smaller.  Heads  solitary 
at  the  ends  of  the  branches,  2  inches  wide ;  outer  bracts  of  the  involucre 
ovate,  tipped  with  short  spines  and  with  a  more  or  less  prominent 
glandular  spot  along  its  middle,  the  inner  bracts  not  spine-tipped;  flowers 
light  purple  or  pinkish.  Achenes  as  in  the  preceding. 

Frequent  along  roadsides  and  borders  of  thickets,  pastures,  etc., 
in  moist  rich  soil.  July-Oct.  Usually  taller  and  less  branched  than 
the  common  thistle.  Associated  with  the  tall  thistle  or  growing  in 
similar  places  is  the  field  thistle  (C.  discolor  Muhl.)  having  the 
leaves  deeply  divided  into  lanceolate  or  linear  segments,  the  wool 
en  their  under  side  much  thicker  and  the  glands  of  the  involucral 
scales  larger.  Both  species  are  easily  subdued  by  deep  cutting  or 
repeated  mowing. 

The  glands  on  the  bracts  of  these  thistles  exude  a  sticky  sub- 
stance which  is  very  attractive  to  insects  and  which  often  serves  to 
entrap  and  hold  them  until  they  perish.  On  different  occasions 
in  September  the  writer  has  found  many  dead  flies,  ants,  harvest- 
men,  small  butterflies  and  small  black  snout  beetles  so  held.*  A 
large  Scarabid  beetle  (Euphoria  scpulchralis  Fab.)  is  also  very 
common  at  these  glands.  Though  too  big  to  be  captured,  it  always 
appears  dazed  as  if  intoxicated  by  the  secretion.  Here  and  there  on 
the  stems  numerous  brown  plant  lice  may  often  be  seen,  arranged  in 
rows,  their  beaks  deeply  inserted  in  the  grooves,  their  heads  always 
towards  the  ground  or  base  of  the  plant.  The  stem  doubtless  yields 
a  sweetish  sap  agreeable  to  these  aphids.  In  late  autumn  these  tall 
thistles  add  a  mite  of  color  to  many  a  woodland  pasture,  blooming 
as  they  do  long  after  the  more  common  thistles  have  ripened  their 
achenes.  One  clump  of  these  thistles  was  measured  and  found  to 
be  over  10  feet  high,  o'er-topping  all  the  iron-weeds  and  the  tallest 
of  the  actinomeris  with  which  it  grew. 

134.  CAROL  rs  ARVENSIS  L.     Canada  Thistle.     Creeping  or  Cursed  Thistle. 

(P.  I.  1.) 

Stems  slender,  grooved,  1-3  feet  high,  branched  above ;  leaves  lance- 
olate or  oblong,  green  both  sides  or  somewhat  downy  beneath,  sessile, 
deeply  divided  into  very  prickly  lobed  or  toothed  segments,  the  basal 
leaves  5-8  inches  long.  Heads  small,  1  inch  or  less  broad,  very  numerous; 
male  and  female  heads  on  sep.irate  plants,  the  former  globose,  the  latter 
smaller,  oblong,  bell-shaped  with  shorter  corollas  and  more  conspicuous 
pappus ;  outer  bracts  of  involucre  ovate,  appressed.  tipped  with  short, 


*See  "Cnicus  discolor  as  an  Insect  Trap"  in  Can.  Ent.,  1892,  310. 


WEEDS   OF   THE   THISTLE   FAMILY. 


167 


prickly  points,  inner  bracts  longer,  linear;  flowers  purple,  pinkish  or' white. 
Achenos  light  brown,  smooth,  £  inch  long,  tipped  by  a  copious  white 
pappus.  (Fig.  J-(5. ) 

Frequent  in  dense  patches  in  northern  Indiana  in  woodland  and 
other  pastures,  old  fields  and  waste  places,  and  along  roadsides; 

scarce  or  wanting  in  the  southern  coun- 
ties. June-Get.  This  thistle  has  gained 
the  reputation  of  being  one  of  the  worst 
of  weed  scourges  which  Europe  has  fur- 
nished us.  but  in  Indiana  is  less  trouble- 
some than  the  common  thistle  or  fox-tail. 
Many  other  weeds,  especially  the  teasel, 
tall  thistle  and  bull  nettle  are  mistaken 
for  it.  Usually  it  is  first  introduced  into 
a  new  locality  by  the  seeds,  and  then 
spreads  rapidly  wherever  it  can  find  a 
foothold.  From  other  thistles  it  is  best 
known  by  its  deep  running  perennial 
rootstocks.  more  slender  stems  and 
small  compact  heads.  (See  Fig.  13,  6.) 
From  the  rootstocks,  which  lie  usually 
far  below  the  ordinary  depth  of  the  fur- 
rows, branches  are  being  continually 
sent  to  the  surface,  oftentimes  through 
3  feet  and  more  of  bard  packed  soil. 
These  branches  produce  basal  leaves  the  first  year  and  flowering 
stems  the  second ;  these  stems,  like  those  of  other  thistles,  appearing 
to  die  after  their  seeds  ripen,  but  only  dying  down  to  the  under- 
ground stem.  Wherever  it  occurs  the  numerous  branches  and  root- 
leaves  soon  cover  the  ground,  smothering  out  the  grass  and  pre- 
venting stock  from  gracing  near  them  on  account  of  their  many 
prickles.  Like  other  perennial  herbs  it  can  only  be  destroyed  by 
starving  out  or  otherwise  killing  the  underground  stems.  Rem- 
edies :  mowing  or  deep  hoe-cutting  three  times  each  season,  in  June, 
August  and  September,  then  salting  or  applying  coal-oil  or 
sulphuric  acid ;  repeated  salting  and  sheep  grazing  for  2  years. 
In  fields  cut  the  thistles  when  in  full  bloom  as  close  to  the  ground 
as  possible,  then  plow  deeply  and  sow  to  millet  or  Hungarian  grass, 
seeding  heavily  and  harrowing;  in  September  cut  the  hay,  plow 
again  and  seed  with  rye;  the  next  May  plow  under  the  rye  and 
plant  to  corn  or  some  hoed  crop.  Short  rotation  and  thorough 
cultivation  of  almost  any  crop  witli  hoe  will  eventually  eradicate 
the  thistle. 


Fig.  126.  Showing  horizontal  roots, 
yo  ing  shoots  and  mature  plant  in  flower. 
(After  Dewey.) 


168 


INDIANA  WT^ED  BOOK. 


GROUP  B, 

Here  belong  those  weeds  among  our  Composite  which  have  one 
or  more  rows  of  conspicuous  yellow  rays  around  the  margin  of  the 
head  of  flowers.  These  ray-flowers  are  in  most  species  pistillate 
and  fertile,  that  is,  producing  seeds,  though  in  some  they  are  neutral 
and  sterile.  To  the  group  belong  our  weeds  known  as  golden-rods, 
elecampane,  cup-plant,  ox-eyes,  cone-flowers,  sunflowers,  aetino- 
meris,  bur-marigolds  and  snee/eweed. 

135.     SOLIDAGO  CANADENSIS  L.     Canada  Golden-rod.     (P.  N.  3.) 

Stem  stout,  rough-hairy,  2-8  feet  high ;  leaves  alternate,  lanceolate, 
rough  above,  3-nerved,  pointed,  the  lower  ones  sharply  toothed  and  stalked, 
3-6  inches  long,  the  upper  sessile,  entire.  Heads  very  numerous  on  one 
side  of  the  spreading  recurved  branches  of  a  large  terminal  panicle;  in- 
volucre oblong,  its  linear  appressed  bracts  in  several  overlapping  rows; 
flowers  bright  yellow,  the  rays  short,  9^15  in  a  single  row.  Achenes  cyl- 
indrical, glabrous;  pappus  of  numerous  rough,  hair-like  bristles. 

Abundant  along  fence-rows,  roadsides  and  in  old  abandoned 
fields,  especially  in  dry  upland  soil.  Aug.— Nov.  This  is  probably 
the  most  common  and  widely  distributed  of  the  30  or  more  golden- 
rods  recorded  from  the  State.  All  are  among  the  most  handsome 
of  our  autumn  wild  flowers,  being  for  the  most  part  wand  plants 
with  small  densely  clustered  yellow  heads.  For  the  botanist  they 
form  a  difficult  group,  being  separated  mainly  by  the  size  of  the 
heads,  their  arrangement  in  flower  clusters,  and  by  the  texture 

and  shape  of  the  leaves.  "Hardly 
has  the  'last  rose  of  summer'  departed 
when  the  early  golden-rod  appears 
and  its  later  sisters  brighten  even  the 
November  landscape.  Simple,  hardy, 
every-day  flowers,  they  are  full  of 
sunshine  and  good  cheer,  adding 
brightness  to  the  dusty  wayside  and 
joy  to  the  common  paths  of  life." 

Associated  with  the  Canada 
golden-rod  and  more  often  found  on 
old    half    sterile    slopes    is    the    field 
golden-rod    (8.   nemoralis   Ait.,    Fig. 
127.)    1-2    feet   high,   the   stem   and 
leaves  thickly  clothed  with  short  ash- 
gray  hairs,   the   lower  leaves   spoon - 
Watson-}    shaped  and  toothed,  the  upper  oblong 
and  entire;  heads  in  a  dense  one-sided  cluster,  the  flowers  very 


WEEDS    OF    THE    THISTLE    FAMILY. 


169 


bright  yellow  with  5-9  rays.  (Fig.  10.  r/.)  Both  species  are  too 
handsome  to  be  called  weeds,  but  if  their  room  is  needed  they  can 
be  easily  killed  out  by  repeated  mowing  or  by  fertilization  and 
cultivation  of  the  soil. 

130.     EUTHAMJA    GRAM  i  NT  FOLIA    L.      Swamp   Golden-rod.      Bushy    or    Fra- 
grant Golden-rod.      (P.  N.  3.) 

Stein  erect,  glabrous,  much  branched,  2-4  feet  high;  leaves  numerous, 
linear-lanceolate,  3-5  nerved,  pointed,  the  margins  and  nerves  minutely 
rough-hairy.  Heads  small,  numerous,  sessile  in  a  Hat-topped  terminal 
cyme  or  cluster ;  involucre  club-shaped,  its  bracts  oblong,  appressed,  over- 
lapping, slightly  viscid;  flowers  golden-yellow,  the  rays  12-20,  disk-flowers 
S-12.  Acliene  top-shaped,  velvety-hairy. 

Very  common  in  low  moist  grounds  along  borders  of  marshes 
and  streams.  July-Get.  From  the  golden-rods  belonging  to  the 
genus  Solidago  this  one  is  now  separated  by  the  rays  being  more 
numerous  than  the  disk-flowers  and  by  the  receptacle  being  min- 
utely fringed,  not  closely  pitted  as  there.  The  flat-topped  flower 
cluster  and  narrow  leaves  also  distinguish  it  from  most  of  the 
others.  It  spreads  both  by  long  running  rootstocks  and  seeds  and, 
if  left  undisturbed,  soon  forms  large  patches  and  becomes  trouble- 
some as  a  weed  in  damp  hay  meadows,  being  the  most  common  of 
all  golden-rods  in  low  grounds.  Since  the  roots  are  near  the  surface 
it  can  be  easily  destroyed  by  cultivation  or  shallow  plowing  and 
also  by  repeated  mowings. 

137.     INULA  HELENIUM  L.     Elecampane.     Horseheal.      (P.  I.  3.) 

Stems  stout,  tufted   from  large  thick  roots,  simple  or  few  branched, 

densely  hairy  above,  2-6  feet  high ;  basal  leaves  broadly  oblong,  10-20 
inches  long,  4-8  inches  wide,  long-stalked,  rough 
above,  woolly  beneath ;  stem  leaves  smaller, 
ovate,  alternate,  sessile  or  clasping,  pointed. 
Heads  few  or  solitary,  terminal,  2-4  inches 
broad;  involucre  saucer-shaped  the  bracts  over- 
lapping in  several  rows,  the  outer  ones  ovate, 
leaf-like;  flowers  yellow;  rays  numerous,  linear, 
3-toothed.  Achenes  4-sided,  &  inch  long,  glab- 
rous; pappus  of  rough,  hair-like  bristles.  (Fig. 
128.) 

Frequent  in  old  fields,  rich  open  wood 
lands,  along  roadsides  and  about  old  dwell- 
ings. June-Sept.  Elecampane  is  a  large,  un- 
gainly rough  looking  weed  which  was  for- 
merly grown  for  ornament  or  for  medicine 


Fig.  128.     (After  Millspaugh.) 


and  has  escaped  in  many  places.    It  has  been  in  use  as  a  medicine 


170 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


since  the  time  of  Hippocrates,  the  root  being  slightly  aromatic, 
tonic  and  expectorant  and  at  one  time  much  used  in  dyspepsia  and 
chronic  coughs.  When  properly  dried  it  brings  4  to  5  cents  a 
pound.  Remedies :  deep  and  repeated  cutting  with  hoe  or  spud. 

138.     SILPHIUM  PERFOLIATUM  L.     Cup-plant.     Indian-cup.     (P.  X.  3.) 

Stem  stout.  4-sided,  branched  above,  4-8  feet  high ;   leaves  opposite, 

thin,  the  upper  entire,  broadly  united  at  base  to  form  a  cup-shaped  cavity 

about  the  stem ;  lower  long-stalked, 
cut-toothed,  G-15  inches  long,  4-8 
inches  wide.  Heads  rather  few,  2-3 
inches  wide,  in  a  flat-topped  open  clus- 
ter; receptacle  fiat,  chaffy;  involucre 
saucer-shaped,  the  bracts  broad,  ovate ; 
flowers  yellow,  the  20-30  rays  linear, 
fertile,  toothed ;  the  disk-flowers  instil- 
late  but  sterile.  5-toothed.  Achenes 
broad,  flattened,  2-winged,  notched  at 
top;  pappus  none.  (Fig.  129.) 

Common  in  low  moist  grounds 
along  roadways,  ditches,  marshes, 
and  especially  banks  of  streams. 
July-Sept.  A  large  coarse  weed, 
the  cups  at  base  of  leaves  being  a 
striking  character.  These  are  often 
filled  with  water  in  which  many  insects  are  drowned.  Whether 
the  weed  is,  like  the  pitcher  plant,  partly  carnivorous,  is  as  yet  un- 
known. Remedies :  deep  cutting  with  hoe  or  spud. 

130.       IlKLIOPSIS     SCAI5RA     DlllUll.        liOUgll 

Ox-eye.      False    Sunflower.       (P. 

X.  3.) 

Stem  rough,  simple  or  branched 
above,  2-5  feet  high ;  leaves  opposite, 
ovate,  pointed,  sharply  toothed,  firm, 
rough  on  both  sides,  2-5  inches  long,  2 
inches  wide,  short-stalked.  Heads  term- 
inal, few  or  solitary,  long-stalked,  2 
inches  broad  ;  receptacle  convex,  chaffy  ; 
involucre  cup-shaped,  its  bracts  oblong, 
in  2  or  3  rows;  flowers  yellow,  the  rays 
10  or  more,  fertile,  1  inch  long.  Achene 
thick.  4-angled ;  pappus  crown-like  of 
1-3  sharp  teeth.  (Fig.  130.) 

Common  in  dry  soil  along  fence- 
rows,  borders  of  thickets,  roadsides, 

Fig.  130.    Ray-flower,  natural  size;  disk-flower 
etc.      July-Sept.      The  name  He  hop-  and  chaff.     (After  Britten  and  Brown.) 


Fig.  129.     Ray-flower  and  chaffy  bract  above. 
( After  Britton  and  Brown.) 


WEEDS    OF    THE    THISTLE    FAMILY. 


171 


sis  means  "like  the  sun"  and  was  given  on  account  of  the  close  re- 
semblance to  the  sunflower  from  which  the  ox-eyes  differ  by  having 
a  more  conical  receptacle  and  by  the  withered  ray-flowers  being 
persistent  upon  the  thicker,  less  flattened  aehenes,  instead  of 
falling  off  as  in  the  sunflowers.  The  smooth  ox-eye  (H.  Jielian- 
Hioides  L.)  is  almost  as  common  as  the  rough  one  and  is  found  in 
similar  places.  Tt  has  the  leaves  smooth  and  the  teeth  of  pappus 
dull  or  wanting.  Remedies:  repeated  mowing  or  deep  cutting; 
abandoning  fence  rows  and  cultivating  the  ground. 

140.     RUDKF;CKIA     IIIRTA    L.      mack-eyed    Susan.       Darkey-head.      Yellow 
Daisy.     (B.  X.  2.) 

Stem  simple  or  sparingly  branched,  rough-hairy,  often  in  tufts,  1-4 
feet  high;  leaves  thick,  alternate,  lanceolate  or  oblong,  tapering,  entire  or 
few-toothed.  Heads  numerous,  terminal,  1'— 1  inches  broad,  long-stalked; 

receptacle  conic  with  linear  chaffy  scales; 
involucre  cup-shaped,  its  bracts  rough-hairy, 
spreading,  much  shorter  than  the  rays;  disk 
globose,  its  flowers  brownish-purple ;  rays 
10-20,  orange.  Aehenes  brown,  4-angled, 
3/10  inch  long;  pappus  none.  (Fig.  131.) 

Common  along  streams,  roadsides, 
fence-rows,  borders  of  thickets,  etc. 
June-Oct.  Appears  to  be  both  an  an- 
nual and  a  biennial ;  in  the  former  case 
lower,  more  simple  stemmed  and  bloom- 
ing in  late  autumn  ;  as  a  biennial,  stouter, 
more  branched  and  blossoming  early.  It 
is  sometimes  troublesome  in  hay  fields, 
Fig.  i3i.  (After  ciark.)  from  ^^{^  ft  may  ])e  removed  by  pull- 

ing, repeated  mowing  or  thorough  cultivation.  In  everybody's 
garden,  along  the  gravelly  banks  of  roadsides  and  streams,  it  is, 
however,  most  prevalent.  There  in  July  and  August  it  is  one  of 
the  most  showy  of  our  Composites  and  is  a  favorite  with  every  one; 
for  then  the  banks 

"Are  gay  with  golden-rod. 

There  blooming  grasses  nod, 
And  sunflowers   small   and  yellow  turn   ever  to  the  sun ; 

Quaint,  darkey-heads  are  there, 

And   daisies   wild   and   fair. 
In  everybody's  garden  each  flower's  the  loveliest  one.'' 

Two  other  "cone-flowers"  belonging  to  the  genus  RudbccJci.fi 
are  common  enough  to  be  called  weeds,  though  they  occupy  for  the 
most  part  waste  land.  They  are  the  thin-leaved  cone-flower  (R. 


172  THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 

iriloba  L.)  having  the  stem  branched,  2-5  feet  high,  the  lower  leaves 
deeply  3-lobed  or  3-divided,  the  disk  egg-shaped,  dark  purple,  the 
rays  8-12,  deep  yellow  or  orange,  and  the  tall  or  green-headed  cone- 
flower  (R.  lacimata  L.)  with  the  stem  3-12  feet  high,  the  leaves 
divided  into  3-7  toothed  or  lobed  segments,  the  disk  oblong- 
eylindric,  greenish -yellow,  and  the  rays,  6-10,  bright  yellow.  The 
former  grows  in  low  moist  meadows  and  the  latter  mostly  in  al- 
iuvial  soil  along  the  dense  shaded  banks  of  streams.  Both  are  easily 
killed  by  repeated  mowing  or  deep  cutting. 

1-41.     HELIANTHUS    DECAPETALus    L.      Wild    Sunflower.      Thin-leaved    Sun- 
dower.      (P.   N.   3.) 

Stein  slender,  glabrous,  branched  above,  2-5  feet  high  ;  leaves  thin, 
ovate,  pointed,  sharply  toothed,  roughish  above,  the  lower  all  opposite, 
slender-stalked,  the  upper  alternate.  Heads  numerous,  2-H  inches  broad; 
involucre  cup-shaped,  its  bracts  linear-lanceolate,  pointed,  spreading,  often 
longer  than  the  yellow  disk;  rays  8-15,  light  yellow.  Achenes  thick, 
somewhat  flattened,  glabrous;  pappus  of  2  awl-shaped  awns. 

Frequent  along  streams,  borders  of  thickets,  etc.,  in  moist  rich 
soil.  July-Sept,  This  is  probably  the  most  common  and  widely 
distributed  of  the  16  species  of  wild  sunflowers  recorded  from  the 
State.  All  are  weeds  in  that  they  grow  uncultivated  in  waste 
places,  yet  no  one  of  them  is  a  weed  of  the  flrst  or  even  the  second 
class.  All  agree  in  having  conspicuous  yellow  rays  which  are 
neutral,  that  is,  without  pistils  or  stamens,  in  having  the  receptacle 
chaffy,  the  chaff  arising  from  beneath  the  tubular  disk-flowers,  and 
.in  the  pappus  being  represented  by  only  2  or  4  short  scales  or  awns. 
The  ray-flowers  exist  only  for  the  purpose  of  attracting  insects  to 
the  less  showy  fertile  flowers  of  the  disk,  thus  indicating  a  high 
type  of  division  of  labor  in  plant  life.  The  leaves  vary  much  in 
size,  shape,  position  on  the  stem,  smoothness,  length  of  stalk,  etc., 
and  by  these  differences  the  species  are  mainly  separated.  In  a 
few  the  disk-flowers  are  brown  or  purple  and  the  receptacle  flat, 
but  in  most  kinds  the  disk  is  yellow  and  the  receptacle  convex. 
The  generic  name,  Helianthus,  means  sunflower  and  probably  refers 
to  the  popular  belief  that  these  flowers  turn  or  change  position  on 
the  stalk  so  as  to  face  the  sun  most  of  the  time.  This  belief  is  set 
forth  by  Thompson  in  the  lines : 

"The  lofty  follower  of  the  sun, 
Sad  when  he  sets,   shuts  up   her  yellow  leaves. 
Drooping  all  night,  and,  when  he  warm  returns, 
Points  her  enamoured  bosom  to  his  ray." 

And  Moore,  describing  its  faithful  constancy,  says: 


WEEDS   OF   THE   tlll^TLE   FAMILY. 


"The  sunflower   turns  on  her   god  when   he   sets 
The  same   look  which  she  did  when   he  rose." 

Another  reason  for  the  name  is  that  the  flowers  of  the  larger  species 
have  a  fancied  resemblance  to  the  orb  of  day. 

The  two  best  known  species  of  sunflower,  both  of  which  grow 
wild  in  Indiana,  are  the  common  sunflower  (//.  annuus  L.)  and  the 
Jerusalem  artichoke  (1L  tuberosus  L.).  The  former  is  often  culti- 
vated in  gardens  where  it  sometimes  reaches  a  height  of  15  feet  and 
a  head  diameter  of  a  foot  or  more.  "Its  flowers  yield  honey  and 
a  yellow  dye;  its  leaves  fodder;  its  seeds  an  oil  and  food,  and  its 
stalks  a  textile  fabric. ":  In  some  parts  of  the  west  and  south  it  is 
a  troublesome  weed,  but  in  Indiana  the  wild  plants  are  escapes  from 
cultivation.  In  the  southeastern  part  of  the  State  sunflowers  are 
raised  extensively  for  the  seed,  the  average  yield  of  the  crop  being 
800  to  1,000  pounds  per  acre.  Sulzer  Bros,  of  Madison  purchased 
in  1911,  100,000  pounds  of  the  seed  at  2  cents  a  pound.  The  seeds 
there  grown  are  used  mostly  to  feed  cage  birds,  chickens,  horses 
and  other  stock.  In  Russia  and  other  European  countries  the  seeds 
are  grown  on  a  much  more  extensive  scale  for  their  oil,  which  is 
expressed  and  used  on  the  table  like  olive  oil  and  also  for  lighting 
and  soap  making.  The  residual  oil  cakes  have  a  high  nutritive 
value  and  are  used  for  feeding  stock. 

The  Jerusalem  artichoke  or 
"earth  apple,"  (Fig.  132),  with 
its  large  rough  lower  opposite 
or  upper  alternate  leaves,  was 
extensively  cultivated  by  the  In- 
dians for  its  oblong  edible  tubers 
which  are  offshoots  from  the 
fleshy  thickened  rootstocks.  The 
plant  is  at  present  often  grown 
for  these  tubers  which  are  fed 
to  stock  or  are  pickled  and  used 
as  a  condiment.  In  many  pla,ces 
in  the  State  it  grows  rankly  as 
a  weed  in  alluvial  or  moist  rich 
soil,  reaching  a  height  of  6-12 
feet,  and  blooming  10  days  or  a 
fortnight  later  than  its  allies. 

Fig.  132.    Flowering  branch,  root  and  tubers;    o,  ray- 
flower;  b,  disk-flower;  c,  fruit.     (After  Watson.)  Both     it     and     Other     Sunflowers, 

where  too   abundant,   can   be  destroyed   by   cultivation,   repeated 
mowing,  or  by  deep  cutting  and  free  use  of  salt. 

*Britton  and  Brown,  III,  422. 


174 


THE    IKDTAXA    WEED    BOOK. 


142.  VERBESINA   ALTERNII-OLIA   L.     Winged   Iron-weed.     Yellow    Iron-weed. 

Actinomeris.      (P.  N.  2.) 

Stem  slender,  simple  or  branched  near  the  top,  winged  by  the  down- 
ward extensions  of  the  leaf  margins.  4-t)  feet  high ;  leaves  alternate  or 
the  lower  opposite,  oblong  or  lanceolate,  pointed,  toothed  or  entire,  rough- 
ish  both  sides,  sessile  or  short-stalked.  Heads  numerous  in  an  open 
terminal  cluster,  1-2  inches  broad;  receptacle  convex,  chaffy;  involucre 
of  a  few  lanceolate,  deflexed  bracts ;  disk  globose,  yellow ;  rays  2-10, 
yellow,  drooping,  1  inch  long.  Achenes  wedge-shaped,  flattened,  broadly 
winged;  pappus  of  2  diverging  awns.  (Fig.  133.) 

Common  in  the  rich  moist  soil  of  lowland  pastures  and  along 

the  borders  of  streams.  Aug.-Sept. 
Easily  known  by  its  winged  stem,  pale 
yellow  rays,  and  loose  arrangement  oi' 
the  achenes  in  the  ripening  heads. 
Spreading  both  by  seeds  and  perennial 
roots,  it  often  forms  dense  patches. 
The  30  or  more  loosely  bunched  disk- 
flowers  are  larger  than  those  of  most 
Compositor  and  have  an  odor  neither 
very  strong  nor  pleasing,  resembling 
somewhat  that  of  the  sunflower.  It 
furnishes  the  yellow,  the  iron-weed  the 
purple,  and  the  everlasting  the  creamy 

white  of  a  trinity  of  color  which  en- 
Fig.  133.    Winged  fruit  with  awns;  disk 

and   ray-flowers  on   right.       (Affer  Britton     livens   in  AllgUSt   the   lowlands  Ot   mam 
and  Brown.) 

a  woooland  pasture.     Kemedies:  same 
as  for  iron-weed. 

143.  BIDENS    L^VIS    L.      Larger    Bur-marigold.      Brook    Sunflower.       (A. 

X.  2.) 

Stem  erect  or  ascending,  glabrous,  branched,  1-2  feet  high ;  leaves 
opposite,  sessile,  lanceolate,  toothed,  pointed,  sometimes  united  at  base 
about  the  stem.  Heads  numerous,  short-stalked,  erect.  1-2  inches  broad; 
involucre  cup-shaped,  its  outer  bracts  linear  or  oblong,  longer  than  the 
ovate  inner  ones;  rays  8-10.  showy,  golden  yellow,  1  inch  long.  Achenes 
wedge-shaped,  both  their  margins  and  the  2-4  slender,  stiff  awns  of  pap- 
pus downwardly  barbed. 

Very  common  in  low  grounds  about  swamps,  marshes,  borders 
of  brooks  and  ditches.  July-Get.  Associated  with  it,  almost  as 
common  and  probably  only  a  variety,  is  the  smaller  or  nodding 
bur-marigold  (B.  cermia  L.)  haM'ng  the  heads  nodding  after  flower- 
ing and  the  rays  shorter,  sometimes  wanting.  Both  belong  to  the 
group  having  the  achenes  called  "beggar-ticks"  or  ^pitch-forks" 


WEEDS    OF    THE    THISTLE    FAMILY. 


175 


mentioned  on  a  preceding  page.  These  two  species  are  notable  for 
their  yellow  ray-flowers  which  in  August  often  cover  acres  of  low- 
lands with  a  flood  of  golden  glory,  but  are  succeeded  in  November 
by  myriads  of  the  2-pronged  seeds  which  clutch  the  clothing  ot 
the  hunter  for  a  free  ride  to  pastures  new.  Remedies :  mowing  be- 
fore the  flowers  open;  drainage  and  thorough  cultivation. 

144.     IlKLKNii'M    AUTI-MNAI.K    L.      Sneezeweed.      Swamp    Sunflower.       (P. 

N.  2.) 

Stem  rather  stout,  nearly  smooth,  narrowly  winged,  mneh  branched 
above,  .1-4  feet  high  ;  leaves  alternate,  oblong  or  lanceolate,  pointed,  nar- 
rowed to  the  sessile  base,  few-toothed,  2-5  inches  long.  Heads  numerous, 

about  1  inch  broad,  long-stalked;  recep- 
tacle convex,  nuked ;  involucre  saucer- 
shaped,  its  bracts  linear,  rellexed,  densely 
woolly ;  disk  many-flowered,  yellow,  glo- 
bose; rays  10-1S.  drooping,  bright  yellow, 
pistillate  and  fertile,  3-5  toothed  or  cleft. 
Achenes  top-shaped,  ribbed ;  pappus  of 
r>-X  ovate  pointed  scales.  (Fig.  Io4.) 

Common  in  low  moist  grass-lands, 
borders  of  fields,  swamps,  roadsides, 
etc.  Aug.-Oct.  One  of  the  most 
handsome  of  our  yellow-flowered 
Composite  and,  with  the  bur- 
marigolds  and  smartweed,  competing 
for  possession  of  many  a  swamp  area. 
Remedies:  drainage  and  cultivation; 
repeated  mowings. 

Sneezeweed,  when  dried  and  pow- 
dered, causes  violent  sneezing  when 
inhaled  and  is  sometimes  used  in 
medicine  to  produce  that  effect.  The  heads  are  often  sprinkled 
with  bitter  aromatic  globules  and  the  whole  plant  is  more  or  less 
acrid  and  poisonous,  especially  to  cattle,  sheep  and  horses,  which 
often  die  after  eating  it  in  quantity.  Its  symptoms  are  said  to  be 
an  accelerated  pulse,  difficult  breathing,  staggering,  extreme  sensi- 
tiveness to  touch  and,  if  fatal,  spasms  and  convulsions. 

GROUP  0. 

In  this  group  of  Composite?  weeds  the  one  to  several  rows  of 
rays  around  the  margin  of  the  head  are  usually  white,  though  some- 
times pinkish  or  bluish.  Here  belong  the  weeds  known  as  asters, 
fleabanes  or  white-tops,  yarrow,  dog-fennel  and  ox-eye  daisy. 


Fig.  134.     (After  Chesnut.) 


176  THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 

145.     ASTER  SALLCIFOLIUS  Lam.     Willow  Aster.      (P.  N.  2.) 

Stem  erect,  rather  slender,  very  leafy,  much  branched,  glabrous  or 
hairy  above,  2-5  feet  high ;  leaves  firm,  alternate,  lanceolate  or  willow- 
shaped,  pointed,  rough-margined,  entire  or  few-toothed,  sessile  or  slightly 
clasping.  Heads  numerous,  f  inch  broad,  in  loose  terminal  clusters ;  re- 
ceptacle flat,  pitted ;  involucre  top-shaped,  its  bracts  linear,  green-tipped, 
appressed  in  4  or  5  overlapping  rows:  disk-flowers  many,  yellow;  rays 
numerous,  bluish  or  violet,  sometimes  white,  ^  inch  long.  Achenes  flat- 
tened, minutely  hairy ;  pappus  of  slender  white  bristles. 

Very  common  in  low  annually  overflowed  bottom  lands  of  the 
larger  streams  of  the  State,  especially  those  which  lie  fallow  for  a 
season  or  two.  Aug.-Oct.  Associated  with  it  in  the  lowlands,  the 
two  often  forming  a  dense  growth  to  the  preclusion  of  other  weeds, 
is  a  closely  allied  form,  the  tall  white  or  panicled  aster  (A.  panicn- 
'l  at  its  Lam.)  with  thinner  smoother  leaves  and  chiefly  white  rays. 
They  are  but  two  of  the  30  species  of  asters  recorded  from  the 
State,  all  of  them  being  distinctively  flowers  of  autumn.  They  begin 
blooming  the  last  of  August  and  as  late  as  December  1st  can  often 
be  found  in  some  protected  nook,  the  last  wild  flowers  of  the  dying- 
year.  The  ray -flowers  of  these  wild  asters  are  in  a  single  row  and 
fertile.  In  color  they  vary  from  a  pure  white  to  a  deep  blue ;  a  few 
are  of  a  pinkish  hue,  but  none  are  red  or  yellow.  The  disk-flowers, 
however,  are  yellow,  but  turn  purplish-brown  or  red  with  age,  Avhile 
the  pappus  is  usually  a  single  row  of  hair-like  bristles.  Those  which 
live  in  woods  and  shaded  places  have  broad  and  heart-shaped  leaves 
while  those  of  the  fields  and  open  places  produce  leaves  that  are 
slender  or  even  awl-shaped.  The  name  Aslcr,  given  them  by  Lin- 
naeus in  1753,  means  a  star,  the  numerous  rays  giving  them  a  star- 
like  appearance.  Longfellow  refers  to  their  naming  in  the  following 
lines : 

"Spake   full   well,    in   language  quaint  and  olden, 

One  who  dwelleth  by  the  castled  Rhine, 
When  he  called  the  flowers,  so  blue  and  golden, 

Stars,  that  in  earth's  firmament  do  shine." 

He  probably  had  in  mind  the  New  England  aster  (A.  novce-anglice 
L.),  one  of  our  largest  and  most  handsome  species,  which  is  also 
very  common  in  moist  open  grounds.  It  grows  2-8  feet  high,  is 
rough-hairy  and  has  very  numerous  lanceolate  clasping  leaves  and 
heads  1-2  inches  wide,  each  with  40  or  more  long  violet  purple 
rays.  It  occurs  usually  in  large  clumps,  often  along  roadsides, 
and  is  a  striking  member  of  our  autumn  flora.  All  these  lowland 
asters  can  be  destroyed  by  repeated  mowings  or  thorough  culti- 
vation. 


WEEDS   OP    THE    THISTLE    FAMILY. 


177 


14(5.     ASTER  EBICOIDES  L.     White  Heath  Aster.     Frost-weed  Aster.     Steel- 
weed.      (P.  N.  1.) 

Stem  glabrous,  or  (in  the  variety  pilosus)  rough-hairy,  bushy  or  much 
branched,  1-3  feet  high  ;  leaves  firm  or  rigid,  the  basal  ones  spoon-shaped, 
toothed,  narrowed  into  margined  stalks ;  upper  ones  linear-lanceolate,  en- 
tire, gradually  becoming  short  awl-shaped.  Heads  very  numerous,  \  inch 
broad ;  involucre  bell-shaped,  its  bracts  linear,  leathery,  abruptly  pointed, 
overlapping  in  about  &  rows;  rays  15-25,  white  or  pink  tinged;  disk  often 
reddish-purple.  (Fig.  135.) 

Abundant  in  southern  Indiana  in  dry  soil,  especially  on  the 
slopes  of  partly  sterile  or  abandoned  fields  and  pastures;  less  fre- 
quent northward.  Sept.-Nov.  Our 
most  common  upland  aster,  often 
taking  complete  possession  of  fallow 
fields,  commons  and  old  pastures  and 
blooming1  until  December  1st  or 
later.  The  old  stems  are  somewhat 
woody  and  the  smaller  branches  and 
flowers  are  borne  along  one  side  of 
the  larger  ones.  The  hairy  variety 
is  more  common  than  the  type. 
Remedies :  increased  fertilization 
and  thorough  cultivation ;  crowding 
out  with  clover;  sheep-grazing  in 
pastures. 

The  heart-leaved  or  blue  wood 
aster  (A.  cordifolius  L.)  is  our  next  most  common  upland  form, 
occurring  in  dry  coarse  soils  along  roadsides,  fence  rows  and  open 
woods.  It  has  broad,  rough,  thin,  heart-shaped,  pointed,  sharply 
toothed  leaves  and  numerous  small  heads  with  10-20  violet  or  blue 
rays.  Remedies  the  same. 

117.     ERIGERON  ANNUUS  L.     White-top.     Daisy  Fleabane.     Sweet  Scabious. 

(A.  N.  1.) 

Stem  erect,  branched  above,  clothed  with  spreading  hairs,  2-5  feet 
high;  leaves  thin,  lower  and  basal  ones  ovate  or  lanceolate,  stalked, 
coarsely  toothed,  2-0  inches  long;  upper  ones  oblong,  lanceolate  or  linear, 
pointed,  sharply  toothed  at  middle  or  entire.  Heads  numerous,  4  inch 
broad,  short-stalked;  receptacle  flat,  hairy;  involucre  cup-s>haped,  its 
bracts  narrow,  in  but  one  or  two  rows,  nearly  equal,  rough-hairy;  disk- 
flowers  many,  yellow;  rays  40-70,  in  2  or  more  rows,  linear,  white  or 
purplish,  pistillate.  Achenes  flattened;  pappus  double,  the  inner  a  row 
of  slender  fragile,  tawny  bristles  which  fall  away,  the  outer  of  partly 
united  slender  scales.  (Fig.  130.) 

Very  common  in  clover  and  timothy  fields,  along  fence-rows  and 
roadsides.  May-Nov.  Associated  with  it  is  the  slender  daisy  flea- 

[12] 


Fig.  135.    Disk-flower  and  leaf, 
and  Brown.) 


(After  Britton 


178 


THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 


Fig.  136.     (After  Clark.) 


bane  (E.  ramosus  Walt.),  distinguished  by  its  smaller  size,  rougher 
or  more  hairy  stem,  narrower  nearly  entire   leaves  and  smaller, 

longer  rayed  heads  of  flowers.  Both  are 
commonly  known  as  "white-top"  and  are 
not  separated  by  the  average  farmer. 
They  are  the  most  pernicious  weeds  with 
which  the  Indiana  growers  of  timothy  or 
clover  have  to  contend ;  often  occurring 
as  winter  annuals,  producing  a  spreading 
tuft  of  coarsely  toothed  leaves  from  buried 
seeds  in  autumn,  and  blossoming  the  next 
May  or  early  June.  In  clover  fields  these 
winter  annuals  are  especially  troublesome 
to  the  first  crop,  after  the  field  has  been 
in  corn  and  grain  for  a  year  or  two,  bein^ 
somewhat  clicked  out  by  the  heavier 
growth  of  succeeding  years.  In  permanent 
timothy  meadows  many  of  the  seeds  ripen 
before  the  timothy  is  cut  so  that  they  are 
there  a  continuous  nuisance.  Remedies:  cutting  hay  early  before 
the  white-top  gets  in  full  bloom;  in  timothy  turning  in  a  flock  of 
sheep  for  a  few  days  before  mowing,  as  they  eat  the  weed  and  leave 
the  hay;  if  not  too  abundant,  pulling  from  meadows  while  in  bios 
som ;  examining  the  young  clover  fields  in  autumn,  and  if  badly 
infested  plowing  up  for  wheat  or  for  spring  cultivation. 

The  Philadelphia  fleabane  (E.  pliUadelphic.us  L.)  is  quite  com- 
mon in  low  damp  grass-lands  in  southern  Indiana.  It  is  a  perennial, 
1—3  feet  high,  its  numerous  heads  with  100-150  long  light  rose- 
purple  rays.  Remedies:  drainage  and  cultivation  or  repeated  mow- 
ings. From  the  asters  the  fleabanes  may  be  easily  told  by  having 
the  bracts  in  only  1  or  2  rows  while  the  more  slender  ray-flowers 
are  usually  in  2  or  more  rows. 

148.       ACIIILLEA    MILLEFOLIU3kf    Iv.       YaiTOW.       Milfoil.        (P.    I.    2.) 

Stem  erect,  simple  or  branched  above,  glabrous  or  somewhat  hairy. 
!-«-}  feet  high  ;  leaves  alternate,  all  finely  divided  or  dissected  into  narrow 
segments,  those  of  the  stem  sessile.  Heads  small,  nnmerons  in  a  large 
compound  flat-topped  cluster;  involucre  egg-shaped,  its  bracts  oblong, 
hairy,  in  a  few  overlapping  rows;  disk-flowers  whitish,  fertile;  rays  4-6, 
white  or  pinkish.  Achenes  gray,  wedge-shaped,  about  1/12  inch  long; 
pappus  none.  (Fig.  137.) 

Common  in  old  fields,  meadows,  pastures  and  along  roadsides. 
June— Oct.  An  ill-smelling  homely  weed  which  thrives  as  well  by 
the  side  of  the  road  in  a  hard  drv  soil  and  dust-laden  air  as  in 


WEEDS    OF    THE    THISTLE    FAMILY. 


179 


moist  spots  at  the  edges  of  ponds  or  lakes.  The  odor  is  strong  and 
the  taste  sharp  and  bitter.  When  eaten  by  cows  it  imparts  its  taste 

and  odor  to  milk  and  butter.  Often 
troublesome  in  meadows  but  readily 
destroyed  by  pulling,  repeated 
mowing  while  in  blossom  or  thor- 
ough cultivation, 

In  medicine  it  is  used  as  a  stim- 
ulant and  tonic,  especially  for  blad- 
der troubles.  The  name  Ackillca  is 
said  to  have  been  given  the  genus 
because  Achilles  used  it  in  the  Tro- 
jan war  to  heal  the  wounds  of  his 
soldiers.  If  gathered  for  sale  the 
entire  plant  should  be  collected  when 
in.  flower  and  carefully  dried,  the 
coarser  stems  being  rejected.  The 
price  ranges  from  2  to  5  cents  a 

Fig.  137.     Flowering  branch  with  heads;  a,  head;     pOUnd. 

The  common  name  milfoil  refers 

to  its  finely  cut  leaves.  As  some  clovers  with  three  leaflets  are  tre- 
foils and  the  five  finger,  cinquefoil,  so  the  yarrow  is  milfoil  or  plant 
of  a  myriad  leaflets.  In  England  it  is  said  to  be  used  as  a  love 
charm  by  maidens  who  pluck  the  plant  from  the  grave  of  a  young 
man.  meanwhile  repeating  the  stanza : 

"Yarrow,  sweet  yarrow,  the  first  that  I  have  found. 
In  the  name  of  my  beloved  I  pluck  thee  from  the  ground ; 
As  Jesus  loved  sweet  Mary  and  took  her  for  His  dear. 
So  in  a  dream  this  night  I  hope  my  true  love  will  appear." 

When  carried  about  the  person  it  wras  thought  to  drive  away  fear 
and  was  therefore  worn  in  time  of  danger. 

149.     ANTHEMIS  COTULA  L.     Dog-fennel.     Mayweed.      (A.   I.  1.) 

Stem  much  branched,  glabrous,  glandular,  ill-smelling,  (5-20  inches 
high  ;  leaves  two  or  three  times  divided  into  narrow,  almost  thread-like, 
pointed  segments.  Heads  numerous,  on  long  leafless  stems  at  the  ends  of 
the  branches;  involucre  cup-shaped,  its  bracts  oblong,  appressed,  over- 
lapping in  several  rows,  their  margins  whitish;  receptacle  oblong,  conical, 
chaffy  at  top,  the  chaff  bristly;  disk-flowers  numerous,  fertile,  yellow; 
rays  10-18,  white,  neutral,  3-toothed,  reflexed  when  old.  Achenes  top- 
shaped,  dirty  yellow,  1/12  inch  long,  usually  with  S-10  lengthwise  rows 
of  wart-like  tubercles;  pappus  none.  (Fig.  13S.) 

Abundant  in  barnyards,  lanes,  commons  of  towns  and  along 
paths  and  roadsides.  June-Nov.  It  is  a  vile,  stinking,  yet,  with  its 


180 


THE   INDIANA   WEED   BOOK. 


daisy-like  heads,  a  handsome  weed,  flourishing  for  the  most  part 
in  dry,  much  compacted  soils  along  pasture  pathways  and  in 
country  barnyards  where  men  and  hogs  and  cattle  are  wont  to 
travel  or  congregate.  Cow-weed  would  bo 
a  more  appropriate  name  than  dog-weed  or 
dog-fennel,  for  it  grows  best  about  those 
spots  where  kine  gather  and  ruminate.  The 
juice  is  acrid  and  often  poisons  the  skin 
when  the  plant  is  freely  handled.  Each 
year  it  springs  up  and  holds  its  own,  star- 
ring the  margins  of  the  pathways  with  the 
yellow  crowns  arid  white  rays.  Scraping 
the  mud  from  the  swine  which  hurry  past, 
trampled  many  times  by  slow-moving  cows, 
though  mud-bedaubed  or  broken  in  stem 
it  succeeds  in  ripening  its  seeds  and 
perpetuating  its  kind  upon  the  face  of 
earth.  An  alien  from  the  byways  of 
Europe,  it  triumphs  where  many  of  our 
native  weeds  would  fail,  mainly  by  its 
properties  of  perseverance  and  stubborn- 
Fig.  138.  (After  Vasey.)  ness  Of  spirit.  Its  seeds  are  often  found 
mixed  with  those  of  clover  or  grass.  Remedies :  mowing  roadsides 
and  barnyards  twice  each  year  before  the  flowers  appear ;  in  fields, 
mowing  or  burning  the  mature  plants;  clean  seeding  and  thorough 
cultivation. 

150.     CHRYSANTHEMUM  LEUCANTHEMUM  L.     Ox-eye  Daisy.     White  Daisy. 

White-weed.     (P.  I.  1.) 

Stems  erect  or  ascending,  simple  or  few  branched,  often  several  from 
a  single  root,  1-2  feet  high ;  basal  leaves  oblong  or  spoon-shaped,  coarsely 
toothed  or  cut-lobed,  narrowed  into  slender  stalks ;  stem  leaves  alternate, 
sessile  or  partly  clasping,  linear  or  oblong,  deeply  cut-toothed  or  entire. 
Heads  few  or  solitary  at  the  ends  of  the  stem  or  branches,  1-2  inches 
broad,  on  long  leafless  stalks;  receptacle  flat,  naked;  involucre  saucer- 
shaped,  its  bracts  oblong,  appressed.  in  several  overlapping  rows,  their 
edges  brownish ;  disk-flowers  numerous,  yellow,  fertile ;  rays  20-30,  white, 
spreading.  Achenes  gray  or  black,  club-shaped,  1/12  inch  long,  angled 
or  ribbed;  pappus  none.  (Fig.  139.) 

Common  in  southern  Indiana  in  old  meadows,  fields  and  along 
roadsides,  usually  in  poor  dry  upland  soil;  less  frequent  north- 
ward. May-Get.  Gne  of  the  most  handsome  and  popular  of  our 
Composite  yet,  where  it  gets  a  good  start,  one  of  the  worst  of  weeds. 
In  many  of  the  eastern  States  it  takes  almost  complete  possession 


WEEDS   OF    THE   THISTLE    FAMILY. 


181 


Fig.  139.     (After  Shaw.) 


of  the  pastures,  rendering  them  quite  white  when  the  plant  is  in 
blossom.  It  spreads  by  the  seeds,  which  are  distributed  in  hay, 
manure,  and  various  farm  seeds,  and  also,  when 
started  in  any  spot,  by  short  offshoots  from  the 
perennial  rootstocks,  which  must  be  killed  be- 
fore the  plant  can  be  wholly  eradicated.  In 
meadows  it  is  a  rank  and  aggressive  weed  soon 
choking  out  the  grasses,  yet  experiments  have 
proven  that  as  far  as  the  chemical  composition  is 
concerned,  the  ox-eye  daisy  is  fully  the  equal  of 
timothy  hay  in  food  constituents.  However, 
digestibility  and  the  liking  of  live  stock  for  it 
were  not  taken  into  account.  Cutting  the  hay 
early  and  thus  preventing  the  maturity  of  the 
daisy  seeds  is  one  of  the  best  methods  of  clear- 
ing it  out  of  meadows.  At  least  10  days  are 
necessary  after  the  blossoms  open  for  the  seeds 
to  mature  so  that  they  will  germinate.  If  tho 
hay  be  cut  during  this  period  reseeding  is  pre- 
vented and  many  of  the  rootstocks  die.  As  the 
plant  is  shallow-rooted,  fields  and  meadows  can 
be  readily  cleaned  of  it  by  plowing,  thorough  cultivation  and  short 
rotation  of  crops.  In  permanent  pastures  its  eradication  is  a  much 
more  serious  problem,  about  the  only  remedies  being  repeated  mow- 
ings, or  grazing  closely  with  sheep.  Farmers  not  now  troubled  with 
the  weed  should  be  on  the  especial  look-out  for  it,  and  isolated 
plants  which  appear  in  a  new  place  should  be  quickly  dug  or 
pulled. 

On  account  of  its  beauty  the  ox-eye  daisy  is  often  cultivated  by 
florists  and  is  much  used  in  boquets  and  for  decorations.  Instances 
are  on  record  where  its  spread  has  been  traced  to  the  throwing 
away  of  wilted  flowers  in  which  the  seeds  were  almost  ripe.  With 
its  conspicuous  white  rays  to  attract  from  far  and  wide  bees  and 
other  insects  to  aid  in  the  fertilization  of  its  numerous  and  closely 
packed  disk-flowers  it  is  one  of  the  highest  of  plants.  The  asters, 
the  fleabanes,  the  dog-fennel  and  the  ox-eye  daisy,  all  have  the  ray- 
flowers  thus  differing  in  hue  from  the  central  florets  and,  as  Grant 
Allen  has  well  said,  form  a  group  "of  the  commonest,  most 
numerous  and  most  successful  of  plants.  They  really  stand  to  all 
other  plants  in  the  same  relation  as  man  stands  toward  other  ani 
mals. "  It  is  well  fitting,  therefore,  that  this  weed  book  should  end 
with  these,  the  highest  and  most  successful  of  weeds  among  the 
great  kingdom  of  plants. 


A  List  of  the  More  Important  Books  and  Papers  Used 
in  the  Preparation  of  This  Weed  Book. 


ATKINSON,  GEO.  F.— "A  College  Text  Book  of  Botany."— 1005. 

BLATCHLEY,  W.  S.— "A  Catalogue  of  the  Uncultivated  Ferns  and  Flow- 
ering Plants  of  Vigo  Co.,  Ind."— From  the  21st  Ann.  Rep.  I  ml. 
Dept.  Geol.  and  Nat.  Resources,  1SJX;. 

BRITTON,  N.  L.  &  BROWN,  ADDISON.— "An  Illustrated  Flora  of  the 
Northern  United  States  and  Canada."— 1896-1898. 

CHESNUT,  V.  K.— "Thirty  Poisonous  Plants  of  the  United  States."— 
Farm.  Bull.  No.  86,  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1898. 

CLARK,  GEO.  H.  and  FLETCHER,  JAS— "Farm  Weeds  of  Canada."— 
1906. 

CLARK,  GEO.  H. — "Report  of  the  Seed  Commissioner  of  the  Dominion 
of  Canada."— 1911. 

COULTER,  JOHN  M.— "Plant  Structures."— 1900. 

COULTER,  STANLEY.— "A  Catalogue  of  the  Flowering  Plants  and  of 
the  Ferns  and  their  Allies  Indigenous  to  Indiana." — From  the  24th 
Ann.  Rep.  Ind.  Dept.  Geol.  and  Nat.  Resources,  1899. 

DARLINGTON.   WM.— "Agricultural   Botany."— 1847. 

DEW^EY,  L.  II. — "Weeds  and  How  to  Kill  Them."— Farm.  Bull.  No.  28, 
U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1905. 

GRAY,  ASA.— "Manual  of  the  Botany  of  the  Northern  United  States."— 
Sixth  Edition,  1889. 

HALSTP:D,  BYRON  D.— "Preliminary  List  of  the  Weeds  of  Iowa."— 
Bull.  Bot.  Dept.  State  Agr.  Coll.,  Ames,  la.,  1888. 

IIENKEL.  ALICE.— "Weeds  Used  in  Medicine."— Farm.  Bull.  No.  188, 
U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1904. 

MACMILLAN,   CON  WAY. —"Minnesota  Plant   Life."— 1899. 

SELBY,  A.  D. — "A  Second  Ohio  Weed  Manual."— Bull.  175,  Ohio  Agr. 
Exp.  Sta.,  1906. 

SHAW,    THOS.— "Weeds   and    How   to    Eradicate   Them."— 1911. 

VASEY,  GEO. — "Weeds  of  Agriculture." — Reps,  of  Botanist  in  Reps.  U. 
S.  Coinm.  of  Agr.,  1886,  '87,  '88. 


(182; 


Glossary  of  Terms  Used  in  Text. 


AcJienc. — A    one-seeded   fruit    having   the    wall    of   the   seed-vessel    tightly 

fitting  around  the  seed. 
Acute. — Sharp  pointed. 

Acuminate. — Gradually  tapering  to  a  point. 
Alternate. — See  p.   34. 

Anther. — The  pollen-bearing  part  of  the  stamen. 
Apctalovs. — Without  petals. 

Apprcsscd. — Lying  closely  against  the  stem  or  other  organ. 
Ascending. — See.  p.  33. 
A  wn. — A  slender  bristle-like  organ. 
A.ril. — The  angle  where  the  leaf  meets  the  stem. 
Axillary. — Borne  in  an  axil. 

Biennial. — See  p.   IS. 

Itcrrjj. — See  p.  41. 

Jiraet. — A   small  leaf  which  surrounds  or  protects  a  flower. 

Hull). — An   underground  bud  with  fleshy  scales. 

Bulbous. — Bearing  bulbs;  springing  from  a  bulb. 

(.'(tlj/.r. — See  p.  35. 

Capsule. — See  p.  42. 

Cartel. — A  modified  leaf  which  forms  part  or  all  of  an  ovary. 

Cari/opsi*. — See  p.  42. 

Chaff.— Thin   dry  scales. 

Chlorophyll. — The  green  coloring  matter  of  plants. 

Cleft. — Cut  about  half  way  to  midrib. 

Cordate. — Heart-shaped. 

(•(f  roll  a. — See  p.  30. 

Cor i/ ml). — See    p.    40. 

Coti/ledoi). — A    rudimentary   leaf   of   the  embryo. 

Crenate. — Scalloped;  with  rounded  teeth. 

Culm. — The  stem  of  grasses  and  sedges. 

Cijmc.- — See  p.  41. 

Decumbent. — Having  the  base  prostrate,  the  apex  rising. 

Decurrent. — See  p.  35. 

Defle.red.—  -Turned  abruptly  downward. 

Dehiscent. — Opening  to  emit  the  contents. 

Dentate. — Toothed. 

Diffuse. — Loosely  spreading. 

Dioecious.— See  p.   38. 

Dixcoid. — Composed   only  of  tubular   flowers. 

Disk.— The  head  of  tubulnr  flowers  in  Composite. 

Dissected. — Divided  into  many  segments  or  lobes. 

Distinct. — All  separate,  one  from  another. 

(183) 


184  THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 

Divided.  —  Cleft  to  the  midrib;  compound. 
Drupe.  —  See  p.  41. 

Embryo.  —  A   rudimentary  plant  in  the  seed. 

Endogen.  —  See  pp.  32,  44. 

Exogcn.  —  See  pp.  33,  44. 

Exserted.  —  Protruding  out  of,  as  the  stamens  out  of  the  corolla. 

Fertile.  —  Bearing  seed. 

Fertilization.  —  The  mingling  of  the  contents  of  a  male  and  female  cell  ; 

application  of  plant  food  to  soils. 
Filament.—  The  stalk  of  an  anther. 
Follicle.—  See  p.  42. 

Free.  —  Separate  from  all  other  organs  or  parts. 
Fruit.—  See  p.  41. 

Gamopetalous.  —  Having  the  petals  more  or  less  united. 

Glabrous.  —  Devoid  of  hairs. 

Gland.  —  A  cell  or  group  of  cells  which  exudes  a  liquid. 

Globose.  —  Spherical  or  nearly  so. 

Glume.  —  The  scaly  bracts  of  the  spikelets  of  grasses  and  sedges. 


.—  Arrow-shaped  with  the  basal  lobes  extending  straight  outward. 
Head.—  See.  p.  40. 
Herb.  —  See  p.  32. 
Herbaceous.  —  Leaf-like  ;  herb-like. 

Imperfect.  —  -Flowers  with  either  stamens  or  pistils,  not  with  both. 
In  deh  iscen  t.  —  Not  opening. 
Inferior.—  See  p.  39. 
Infle.rcd.  —  Bent  abruptly  inward. 

Inflorescence.  —  The  mode  of  arrangement  of  flowers  on  the  stem. 
'  Irrvolurre.  —  A  circle  of  bracts  beneath  a  flower  or  flower  cluster. 
Irregular.—  A  flower   in  which   one  or  more  of  the  petals  or  sepals  are 
unlike  the  others. 

lanceolate.  —  Much  longer  than  broad  and  tapering  to  a  point;  lance-shaped. 
Leaflet.  —  One  of  the  divisions  of  a  compound  leaf. 
Legume.  —  A  pod  ;  a  simple  dry  fruit,  splitting  along  both  sides. 
Lens-shaped.  —  Having  both   sides  curved;   or  with  the  form  of  a  double 

convex  lens. 

Linear.  —  Elongate  and  narrow  with  sides  nearly  parallel. 
Lobed.  —  Deeply  cleft  or  divided. 
Lament.  —  A  jointed  pod,  constricted  between  the  seeds. 

Midrib.—  The  central  vein  or  rib  of  a  leaf. 
Monodelphous.  —  United  in.  one  set 

Mono3cious.  —  Having  the  stamens  and  pistils   in   different  flowers  on   the 
same  plant. 

Naked.  —  Lacking  both  calyx  and  corolla. 

Nut.  —  A  one-seeded   fruit  with  a  hard  shell   which   does  not   split  when 
ripe. 


OF  TERMS  USED  IN  TEXT.  185 


tHj.  —  Longer  th;m  broad  with  the  sides  nearly  parallel. 
Oborate.  —  Ovate  with  the  broad  end  outward;  inversely  ovate. 
Obtuse.  —  lilunt  or  roiinded. 
Orbicular.  —  Nearly  circular  in  outline. 
Ova  rij.—  See  p.  3i>. 
Ovate.  —  Egg-shaped. 
Ovoid.  —  Same  as  ovate. 
Ovule.  —  A  minute  or  unripe 


.^  —  See   p.   41. 
Panicked.  —  Arranged  in   a   panicle. 
Prippu-xs  —  The  bristles,  awiis,  teeth,  etc.,  borne  on  the  tops  of  the  achenes 

of  Coinpositae  aiul  aiding  in   their  distribution. 
Parasitic.  —  Growing  upon  other  plants  and  absorbing  nourishment  there- 

from. 

Parted.—  Deeply  cleft. 
Peduncle.  —  The  stalk  of  a  flower. 

Pellucid.  —  Admitting  the  passage  of  light  ;   translucent. 
Perfect.  —  Flowers  with  both  stamens   and  pistils. 
Perianth.  —  Having  the  calyx  and  corolla   so  similar  as  not  to  be  readily 

distinguished. 
Persistent.  —  Remaining  on  the  plant  until   withered  or  after  growth   has 

ceased. 

Petal.  —  One  of  the  parts  of  the  corolla. 
Petiole.—  The  stalk  of  a  leaf. 

Pinnate.  —  Leaves  divided  into  leaflets  along  a  common  axis. 
Pistil.—  See  p.  38. 
Pistillate.-  -Possessing  pistils. 
Plumose.  —  Feather-like. 

Pollen.  —  The  male  fertilizing  grains  borne  by  the  stamens. 
Polypetalous.  —  With  separate  petals. 
Pubescent.  —  Bearing  hairs. 
Punctate.  —  Marked  with  translucent  dots. 

Raceme.  —  See  p.  40. 

Ray.  —  The  flat  strap-shaped  corolla  of  a  Composite!?  flower. 

Receptacle.  —  The    end   of   the   flower   stalk    bearing    the    floral    organs   or 

flowers. 

Ti  ecu  rvcd.  —  Curved  back  wa  rds. 
Rootstock.  —  An  underground  stem  with  buds. 

Rosette.  —  One  or  more  circles  of  leaves  lying  flat  on  the  ground. 
litnjosc.  —  Wrinkled. 

Sac.  —  A  pouch  or  cavity  as  of  anthers  or  embryo. 

Scale.  —  A  minute  leaf. 

Scalloped.  —  With   rounded   teeth. 

Sensitive.  —  Closing    or    folding    when    touched. 

Sepal.  —  One  of  the  parts  of  the  calyx. 

Sessile.  —  Without  a   stalk. 

Hi  lit/  uc.—  See  p.  42. 

Spike.  —  An   elongated   cluster  of  sessile   blossoms. 


186  THE   INDIANA   AVEKD   BOOK. 

Spikelet.—A.  little  spike. 

Spreading. — Nearly  prostrate  on  the  ground. 

Stamen. — See.  p.  37. 

Sterile. — Without  seeds  or  spores. 

Stigma. — See  p.  39. 

Stipules. — Appendages  borne  at  the  base  of  the  leaf  stalk. 

Stipulate. — Bearing  stipules. 

Style. — The  narrowed  top  of  the  ovary- 

Succulent. — Soft  and  juicy;  fleshy. 

Superior. — Said  of  the  ovary  when  free  from  calyx. 

Suture. — A  line  of  splitting  or  opening. 

Terminal. — Borne  011  the  end  of  the  stem  or  branch. 

Terete. — Circular  in  cross  section. 

Truncate. — Cut  square  off. 

Tul)er. — A  short  thick  underground  stem. 

Tubercle. — A  wart-like  grain  or  projection. 

Umbel. — See  p.  41. 

Umbellet. — A  small  or  secondary  umbel. 

Utricle. — An  achene  or  one-seeded  fruit  with  a  loose  outer  covering. 

Whorl. — A  circle  of  three  or  more  leaves  or  other  organs  arising  from 

the  same  level. 
Wing. — A  thin  expansion  of  a  seed  or  stem. 


Index. 

Page 

Actinomeris 174 

Amaranth  Family,  weeds  of 72 

Annual  weed* 17 

Artichoke,  Jerusalem 173 

Aster 170 

Barley,  wild 61 

Barnyard  grass 52 

Beard-grass  51 

Beggars'    lice 113 

Beggar-ticks   100 

Bell-flower  Family,  weeds  of 140 

Biennial    weeds 18 

Bindweed,   black OS 

bracted 108 

Birds  as  wecxl-seed  destroyers 25 

Bitter-sweet    127 

Blackberry,  wild   80 

Black-eyed  Susan 171 

Blue   bur 114 

Blueweed  115 

Boneset 150 

Borage  Family,  weeds  of 112 

Bouncing-bet 79 

Brier,  common 80 

Broom-sedge   51 

Buckhorn 137 

Buckwheat,  climbing  false OS 

wild   08 

Kuckwheat  Family,  weeds  of 03 

Buffalo-bur    120 

Bull-nettle   125 

Burdock   103 

Bur-grass 54 

Burseed    114 

Butter  and   eggs 131 

Buttercup  Family,  weeds  of 80 

Butterfly-weed    105 

Butterweed    158 

Canada  thistle  100 

Carpet-weed 70 

Carrot  Family,  weeds  of 100 

Carrot,  wild 101 

Catchfly,  night-flowering   79 

sleepy   78 

Catnip  118 

Charlock    , 83 

(187) 


188  THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 

Page 

Cheat 55 

Chess > 55 

duckweed,  common 80 

Chicory 143 

Cinquefoil,  common 87 

rough 88 

Cocklebur   151 ,  152 

Cockle   78,  79 

Cone-flower,  green-headed 1 72 

thin-leaved 171 

Corn  groniwell 114 

Couch-grass 5G 

Cowbane,  spotted 103 

Cow  parsnip 102 

Crab-grass 52 

Crowfoot  Family,  weeds  of  80 

Cup-plant 1 70 

Dandelion 144 

Darkey-head  171 

Dead-nettle   121 

Dock   G4 

Dodder  Family,  weeds  of 110 

Dogbane  Family,  weeds  of 104 

Dog-fennel    1(51,  179 

Elecampane 109 

Evening  primrose,  common 99 

Everlasting,  fragrant  or  common 159 

plantain-leaf 159 

Families  of  weeds,  keys  to 43,  45,  47 

Figwort  Family,  weeds  of * 129 

Finger-grass 52 

Fireweed   103 

Five-finger 87 

Fleabane 1 77,  178 

Flowers  of  weeds  35 

Foxtail,  green 54 

yellow 53 

Fruits  of  weeds 41 

Galingale  5,8 

Garlic,  wild 00 

Germander,  American   118 

Golden-rod 108 

Goose-grass  07 

Goosefoot  Family,  weeds  of 09 

Grass  Family,  weeds  of 50 

Ground-cherry 124 

Ground  ivy   119 

Hawkweed 148 

Hedge  nettle 121 

Hemlock,  poison 103 


INDEX.  1  *  9 

Page 

Henbit 121 

Hogweed 1 50 

Horse  nettle  1 25 

ITorseweed   , 149,  158 

Hound's- tongue 113 

IndiMiia  weeds,  classes  of    12 

origin  of 11 

Indian  mallow   97 

tobacco 141,  159 

Inflorescence  of  weeds 40 

Iron-weed   1 54,  1 74 

Ivy,  i>oison 94 

Jimson-weed  128 

Jo-pye-weetl    150 

Keys  to  Families  of  weeds 4.'^,  45,  47 

Knot-grass   07 

Lady's  thumb 65 

Lamb's  quarters    09 

Leaves  of  weeds   33 

Lettuce,  prickly 140 

wild 148 

Lily  Family,  weeds  of 00 

Lobelia,  great 141 

Mallow  Family,  weeds  of 95 

Man-of-t he-earth    108 

Marigold,  bur 1 74 

foetid    101 

Mayweed   179 

Meadow-grass,  pungent   , 55 

Medic,  hop    , 89 

Medicinal  properties  of  weeds 28 

Mercury,  three-seeded 92 

Mexican  tea 70 

Milfoil 178 

Milkweed  Family,  weeds  of 105 

Mint  Family,  weeds  of 117 

Morning-glory  Family,  weeds  of 107 

Motherwort 120 

Mullen,   common    129 

moth    131 

Mustard  Family,  weeds  of 81 

Mustard    82,  84 

Nettle  Family,  weeds  of 01 

Nettle,  bull    125 

hedge    121 

horse 125 

slender    02 

Texas    120 

Nightshade    127 

Nut-grass,   yellow 58 


190  THE    INDIANA    WEED    BOOK. 

Page 

Old-witch  grass 53 

Onion,  wild 60 

Orache    71 

Origin  of  Indiana  weeds 11 

Ox-eye 170 

Ox-eye    daisy ISO 

Parsley  Family,  weeds  of 100 

Parsnip,  wild 102 

Partridge  pea 89 

Pea    Family,   weeds   of 88 

'ennyroyal 122 

'epper-grass,    wild 82 

'eppermint ' 123 

'erennial    weeds 19 

'ersicary,  glandular 05 

Pigeon-berry  75 

-grass    53 

-weed 114 

Pigweed  Family,  weeds  of 72 

Pilewort    132,  103 

Pink    Family,    weeds   of 77 

Plantain  Family,  weeds  of 135 

Pleurisy-root  105 

Poison  hemlock    103 

ivy 94 

sumac 95 

Pokeweed 75 

Potato  Family,  weeds  of 124 

Prickly  potato 120 

Prickly  sida 90 

Primrose,  evening  99 

Purslane   77.  92 

Quack-grass 50 

Queen  Anne's  lace 101 

Ragweed  Family,  weeds  of 149 

Red-root 73 

Rib-grass    loT 

Ribwort 137 

Roots  of  weeds •  >! 

Rose  Family,  weeds  of 85 

Rush  Family,  weeds  of 59 

Russian  thistle 71 

Sand-brier  125 

-bur 54 

Sedge  Family,  weeds  of 57 

Senna,  wild 88 

Shepherd's  purse 84 

Silkweed 107 

Smartweed 00 

Snake-root,  white , , 158 


INDEX.  191 

Page 

Sneezeweed  175 

Scapwort  71) 

Sorrel,  field (i3 

Sow-thistle 145 

Spanish  needles 101 

Spearmint    123 

Speedwell 133 

Spraying  for  weeds 24 

Spurge  Family,  weeds  of 91 

Squirrel-tail  grass 57 

Steel-weed  177 

Stickseed,  Virginia  113 

Stinking-grass 55 

St.  John's-wort  Family,  weeds  of 1)8 

Sumac  Family,  weeds  of 1)4 

Sunflower,  common 1 73 

wild 172 

Sweet  clover DO 

Sweet  potato',  wild 108 

Tansy    1(52 

Tear-thumb,  arrow-leaved (51) 

Teasel 139 

Thistle,  Canada 100 

common 1 04 

Thistle  Family,  weeds  of 153 

Thorn  apple 128 

Thorough  wort 157 

Tick-trefoil,  hoary 1)0 

Toad-flax 131 

Tongue-grass 82 

Trumpet  creeper  134 

Tumble-weed   53,  74 

Velvet  leaf 1)7 

Venus'  looking  glass 140 

Vervain  Family,  weeds  of 115 

Water  hemlock 103 

Water-pepper 00 

Weed,  definitions  of  0 

Weed  extermination,  rules  for 20 

seeds,  distribution  of 7 

Weeds,  losses  caused  by 13 

of  cities  and  towns 10 

used  in  medicine 21) 

Wheat  thief 1 14 

White-top 177 

Wire-grass  59 

Wood  sage 118 

Wormseed    70 

Wormwood 103 

Yarrow .178 


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